


Don't be so Dramatic

by jetelios



Category: Total Drama (Cartoon)
Genre: Alcohol Abuse, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, M/M, Underage Drinking, just your typical high school au bby, oh and there's a bit of swearing, will i ever write and draw anything other than these six characters? no, yeah its kinda angsty but there'll be some heart warming moments
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:55:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 22,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24582649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jetelios/pseuds/jetelios
Summary: Gwen and Trent were the perfect couple. Emphasis on were.After their totally dramatic breakup, things get a little wild for both them and their friends.
Relationships: Cody Anderson/Noah, Courtney/Heather (Total Drama), Gwen/Trent (Total Drama), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 76
Kudos: 124





	1. Flying Obscenities

**Author's Note:**

> Get ready for some drama woo let's make these characters angsty.  
> Also this au takes place in good ol Australia because I don't know how the Canadian school system works.

"I'm so done with you! Fuck you!"

"Well, fuck you too!"

After a conversation of accusations and screaming profanities at each other, Gwen and Trent stormed off in opposite directions. Everyone in the five metre vicinity were staring at them, dumbfounded. Their little public display of obscenities and subsequent break up took place right in the middle of the hallway and it was the viewing pleasure of about half of everyone in Year Eleven. Immediately, Noah and Leshawna went off and chased after Gwen, who was probably crying off her shitty $3 Hot Topic eyeliner, while Cody ran after Trent.

Cody knew exactly where Trent had gone off to, it was the same place he always goes whenever he was upset. Cody opened the glass door of the Music Centre and listened. Trent's unmistakable 'singing, but not really because he's crying' could be heard all through out the building. At the end of the corridor, Cody found Trent in one of the practice rooms, strumming away sadly on his guitar. He was singing as well, although Cody couldn't tell what he was saying through all the mumbles and sniffles.

"Trent, dude!" Cody said, catching his breath. "Are you ok?"

Trent looked at him with dead eyes, "I'm fine, man." He was obviously not fine.

"What happened back there? Why'd you break up with her?" Cody sat on the stool next to him.

"You've heard what she's been saying about me, man." Cody couldn't deny this. Just about _everyone_ in the year had heard the rumours that Gwen was talking shit about Trent behind his back. Of course, Gwen adamantly denied this. Not that it had any affect on the outcome though.

"Yeah...but you don't actually think she said those things? Gwen doesn't seem like that kind of person."

"Time to take the blindfold off Cody, she's not as good as you think she is. Or as good as _I_ thought she was. Anyway, I got the texts to prove it." Trent went back to strumming his guitar.

"Texts from Gwen to _Heather._ No doubt they're fake." A much as Cody wanted to defend his heartbroken friend, he couldn't help but try to defend the girl that he had had a crush on for the past three years.

"I've known Heather my whole life. Sure, she'd do that to someone else. But not to me."

"I guess..." Cody sighed. The bell then rang throughout the school, signalling that lunch was over. "You sure you're okay dude?"

"Yeah. I'm just gonna stay back for a bit. Let some feelings out through music y'know?" With that, Cody left Trent alone with his emotions.

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While all that was happening, Noah and Leshawna were on their on quest to find their gothic friend. It wasn't long until they heard wailing coming from one of the girls toilets. Leshawna opened the door, Noah following her. "You really gonna come into the ladies room?" She asked Noah.

"Oh no! A door that has a pink sign and says 'girls' on it? What horror!" said Noah, rolling his eyes. Leshawna didn't fight this and stormed into the bathroom. There they found Gwen, black tear streaks running down her face, looking in the dirty mirror.

She sniffed, "This eyeliner...was meant to be waterproof."

"Because not having waterproof eyeliner _really_ seems to be your biggest problem right now." Noah said.

"Oh girl, don't cry!" Leshawna took Gwen into a big bear hug. "You don't need a man like that! He's a dumbass for believing that you said any of that shit."

"You guys believe me? You don't think I said any of that?" Gwen asked her two friends, semi-hopeful.

"We don't believe a goddamn thing that comes out of that two-faced, backstabbing bitch, Heather." Leshawna said with fury in her eyes.

"Such a shame literally no one else thinks that." Noah said. What little hope that Gwen had in her eyes had been diminished knowing that she was now the school's laughing stock. Leshawna jabbed Noah's side, "You _really_ gotta learn when to shut up, stringbean. Here," Leshawna dug around in her bag and handed Gwen some makeup wipes, "You got some bad racoon eyes going on there, girl."

"Thanks," Gwen said as she wiped her tear stained face. While the trio were standing in the bathroom, the bell rang.

"As much as I would like to stay and watch Gwen redo her eyeliner, I actually care about my education." Noah said as he prepared to leave.

"Nuh-uh honey, you ain't going anywhere." Leshawna grabbed his shoulder. "We all know you could ditch all your classes and still get A's. You're not leaving until all of us are ready to leave."

"Fine." Noah said, seemingly annoyed. He wasn't though. He didn't really mind skipping class to console one of his only friends.

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The rest of the day was filled with insults said under breaths between Gwen and Trent and awkward tension between Cody, and Leshawna and Noah. You see, before the whole break up drama, all five of them use to hang out. Not all of them were the best of friends, but now, not talking or even looking at each other was strange. There just seemed to be something wrong with the whole break up.


	2. A Disaster Waiting to Happen

Noah adjusted his tie in the mirror. Whilst making sure everything looked neat and perfect, he noticed that Gwen was laying on Leshawna's bed, still not gotten into her dress. "Listen Gwen, I'm dreading this as much as you. Being social isn't my forte. But Leshawna's been looking forward to the Year 11 Semi-Formal for the whole year. So get dressed." He chucked her dress at her.

"What's the point? My date dumped me last week." She said, staring at the off-white ceiling.

Leshawna burst through the door, however her voice was heard first. "The _point_ is to go out there, have fun, shake yo' booty, and look _good_!" Leshawna came into the room looking like a goddess. She was wearing a bright red dress that fit her curves perfectly, with rose red lipstick to match.

"Woah Leshawna, you look stunning!" Something other than a ceiling fan had finally caught Gwen's attention.

"I know. But you know who's gonna look even better? You, when you put on your goddam dress!" Gwen gave solemn looks to her black lace gothic dress. After a few seconds, she decided that she was in fact going to wear that dress and she was going to look good.

"Could of made that decision quicker, we've got to leave soon." Noah said as he looked at his watch.

"Whatever, just because you need to be there half an hour early, Mr. Class Rep." Gwen retorted.

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"You got a freaking _limo?!"_ Trent looked outside the window and stared at the sleek black limo parked on Cody's driveway.

"What can I say? The Codemeister likes to arrive in style." He pointed finger guns at Trent while he raised an eyebrow at Cody. "...Harold wanted a limo and I offered to pay for half of it." He admitted.

"Thought as much. Well, who could pass up a limo?" Trent picked up his blazer that was slumped over a chair. "Shall we get going?"

"Let's!" Cody jumped out of his chair and rushed downstairs and out the doors. Cody and Trent met with Owen and Harold who were already inside the limo. "Ready for an awesome night, guys?"

"You bet! I can't wait to see what kind of food they have! I tried asking Noah, but he wouldn't tell me...oh I wonder if they'll have ribs!" Saliva was already pouring out of Owen's mouth just as the thought.

"My only hope is to dance with my lovely Leshawna. No doubt she'll be impressed with my mad dancing skills." Harold said, matter-of-factly.

The drive continued for a few more minutes. On the way to the venue, they added to their posse by picking up Tyler. Of course, as soon as he step foot into the vehicle, he started gushing about his blonde bombshell of a girlfriend, Lindsay.

"Who's going to Heather's afterparty?" Owen asked. Tyler responded by nodding his head, but Harold said that tonight he had scheduled a 'sick DnD campaign.'

"I live next door, so I'm down." Trent said.

"I dunno. Haven't decided yet." Cody said.

"Dude, you gotta come. I don't think I'd be able to deal with everyone alone."

"Eh, we'll see happens."

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"I don't see why we _have_ to have assigned tables. It's not like this is the Year 12 Ball, it's just a dingy dinner dance," Noah eyes scanned the list people that Courtney had made.

"Practice and preparation for next year, Noah. The future Head Girl has to be organised, you know." Courtney adjusted some decorations, making sure they're perfectly straight.

"More like future dictator." Noah huffed. His eyes darted down to the list of names. That's when he noticed something terrible. "Hey Courtney, mind telling me why the fuck you decided to put me, Leshawna, Cody, _Gwen_ and _Trent_ on a table together?"

"Oh shit! God, I'm sorry Noah, I had completely forgot that I placed you together. I made the list before the whole break up thing happened. Ugh, I can't change it now, it'll mess everything else up..." Courtney rubbed her temple, trying to come up a solution.

"It's fine, Courtney. Let's just hope everyone _else_ is gonna be mature about this situation. Don't stress about it too much, Ms. Future Head Girl, you'll get wrinkles."

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The banquet hall was now filled with students. Over in the corner, the air was thick at Gwen and Trent's table. No one was talking. Everyone couldn't wait until they could go to the buffet and leave the awkward tension, even just for a second.

It was announced that the food was ready to be served, immediately the hungry students lined up. Gwen piled up spaghetti bolognese onto her plate and dreaded the thought of returning to the silence of her table. Both her and Trent weren't looking where they were going and bumped into each other, spilling spaghetti all over Gwen's dress.

"Oh man, Gwen I'm sorry-" Trent started.

" _Save it._ " Gwen wiped the noodles and sauce off her dress and headed towards the bathroom.

Leshawna followed her, not before 'accidentally' knocking over Trent's drink, "Oopsie, sorry Trent."

Over from the other side of the room, Geoff mistook this little interaction for something that better suited his interests. He picked up his garlic bread, stood up on his chair and yelled, "Food fight!"

And with that, all hell broke loose. There was spaghetti flying, chicken being thrown across the room and sauce being poured into peoples hair. All while this chaos was happening, the two supervising teachers Mr. Hatchet and Mr. McLean just watched, knowing that they were going to force the students to clean up their mess later.

Courtney had had enough, she wasn't going to let everyone just ruin all her hours of painstaking decorating. She stood up on the table right in the middle of the room and appeared to materialise a megaphone out of thin air, "Will you stop throwing food around, you absolute neanderthals!" Everyone immediately stopped, but it was too late. The whole banquet hall was trashed.

The rest of the dance consisted of scrubbing, washing, cleaning and very little dancing. Needless to say, everyone was looking forward to Heather's afterparty.


	3. Is Having a Good Time Worth Nearly Dying?

"Wow Heather, what would your mum think about you hosting this party?" Trent asked as he and Cody walked through the front doors. The air inside already smelt like a mixture of booze, drugs, and B.O. Even though Heather's house was huge, it felt small due to the amount of people attending.

"Probably the same thing as your dad would think about you _attending_ this party." Heather barked back, red solo cup in her hand.

"Touché." Trent said as he made his way to find a slightly less crowded part of the house. Heather's and Trent's families have been friends (and business partners) for years. With high ranking lawyers and accountants in both their ranks, it was obvious that both of the pair's parents had a long list of what they wanted their children to achieve in their lives. And it's fair to say that attending and hosting parties filled with underage drinking and illegal drug use was not on that list. So, a solidarity formed between the two. They didn't dob each other in and they created alibis for one another if need be.

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Courtney stood on the second story balcony, leaning on the glass frame. She sighed and looked down at the pool, where Geoff, DJ, Owen, and Tyler were playing a game of chicken fight. _How childish,_ she thought. Normally, Courtney wouldn't barely bat an eye at this kind of stuff. However, tonight she wasn't in the best of moods. For starters, the Semi-Formal didn't go to plan at all, secondly all she wanted to do was go home and study. Exams were next week and she had been pretty slack on studying due to her planning every single last detail for the Semi-Formal. She had to be at the party though. Who else was going to make sure that Heather didn't do something stupid, other than her best friend?

Courtney was so lost in her thought that she hadn't even noticed the swarm of people who were now situated on the balcony. She looked over to see a crowd of people surrounding a couple of Year Tens, Lightning and Scott. Courtney didn't really know either of them, or why they were even at this afterparty. That's when she noticed someone in the crowd, looking at the two boys with an unamused look. Gwen. Their eyes locked and Gwen started to walk towards Courtney.

"I came out here for some fresh air, but of course all I see are two meatheads roughhousing," Gwen pointed back to Lightning and Scott while she accompanied Courtney by leaning on the frame.

"Ugh, tell me about it. I could be at home right now, with some peace and quiet." Courtney dug her head into her hands. The fight behind the two girls had begun to grow louder.

"Why hang around here then? Do you not have a ride home or something?" Gwen asked.

"I do, but you know how Heather gets. Someone needs to keep an eye on her." Gwen wasn't entirely sure what Courtney meant by that. She wasn't particularly close with Courtney and she definitely wasn't close with Heather. There was an awkward silence between them for a few seconds. "You know, just because I'm Heather's best friend doesn't mean I hate you. I don't believe the things she said about you."

Gwen was a bit taken aback from this confession, "...Thanks. It's good to know that someone at this party, other than Leshawna, doesn't totally hate my guts." If it wasn't for Leshawna forcing her to go, it was no doubt that Gwen wouldn't of dared to show her face at Heather's party.

Courtney was about to say something when they heard aggressive yelling from behind. Startled, the girls turned to face the sound. "Yeah, well how about you sha-shut the fuck up!" Scott pushed Lightning with so much strength that he fell directly into Courtney. It all happened in slow motion. The force of the push caused the glass frame to shatter. It felt as if Courtney's life flashed before her eyes as she began to fall backwards, off of the balcony.

"Courtney!" Gwen screamed as she desperately reached for Courtney's arm. Luckily, she grabbed it, but she knew that she wasn't strong enough to hold on for more than a few seconds. Her scream grabbed a few of the bystanders attention and some people immediately came to help. Gwen couldn't recall who helped her lift Courtney back up. She didn't really care. All that mattered was making sure that Courtney was fine.

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Before the incident with Courtney happened, Trent was downstairs heading for the bathroom. Just as he was about to knock on the door, it violently swung open. Out came Duncan, who had an awfully pissed off look on his face, "You really are a psychotic bitch!" He yelled back to whoever was in the bathroom with him.

Being ever so curious, Trent looked in to see who it was. He saw Heather, slumped over the toilet seat, tears streaming down her face. In her hands, she had an almost empty, very expensive red wine bottle that her parents were surely going to kill her for drinking. "Jesus Christ Heather..." Trent said as he went to sit next to her. "You did it again?" This wasn't the first time that Heather had cracked open one of her parents precious liquors and drank it all to herself.

"Ha, you know me. Always managing to fuck everything up. You know why? Cause I'm a fuck up." She went to take another sip of the wine, but Trent immediately took away the bottle before she could.

"You're not a fuck up, Heather."

"Yeah? My parents think that. You _know_ think that." She started full on crying at this point. "Why do I ruin everything good that happens to me?"

Trent put his hand on her shoulder, "Did...did Duncan just break up with you?" Heather nodded, while biting her lip to stop her from wailing. "Dickhead..." Trent said under his breath.

"Why do you still bother with me Trent? I've ruined my past two relationships. I've ruined other peoples relationships. I'm satan reincarnated." This was news to Trent. Yes, you could definitely argue that Heather's past breakups were her fault, he didn't know that she caused other break ups.

"...you've ruined other peoples relationships?" Trent inquired.

Heather started laughing to herself. She was _really_ drunk. "Yup! You know how I told you Gwen said all that shit about you? None of it was true! Ha!"

Trent's jaw dropped. He and Heather weren't the best of friends, but man, were they close. He never thought that she would do this to him. "...w-why would you do that?" His voice was quiet and shaky.

"Cause I'm a bitch!" Heather reached for the wine bottle again. Trent didn't stop her this time.

"No, _Heather,_ why did you do that?" His voice began to grow more aggressive.

Heather looked down to the floor. She had stopped laughing now and tears began to fill up her eyes again. "Your parents love you. _My_ parents love you. Hell, they love you more than they love me. I'm dead fucking serious. God, sometimes it's like they can't even bear to be around me..." As much as Trent didn't want to admit it, it was true. Heather's parents loved him more than they loved their own daughter. "Your parents never really seem mad at you. I thought that when you started dating Gwen, they'd disapprove of her. But no, they loved that blue-lipstick wearing freak. So I was mad. I was mad that you had everything going for you, I wanted to ruin it. So I did." The silence that followed was deafening. "So? Gonna yell at me like everyone else, or what?"

Trent stood up to leave. He couldn't even look at Heather in the eyes. "Heather, I cannot possibly even begin to tell you how disappointed I am. In _you._ " Trent reached for the door handle, but was interrupted by the sound of glass shattering.

"This can not be happening..." Heather said just before she vomited into the toilet.

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Trent, Heather, Courtney, and Gwen were all in the kitchen. After helping Heather drunkenly search for the first aid kit, Trent had finally found it and handed it over to Gwen. Heather was way too out of it to be useful, but she was the host and Courtney's friend, so she tried to help.

Gwen wiped disinfectant over the cuts, Courtney grimacing as she did so. "There doesn't look like there's any glass in the cuts. They're also not that deep, so I don't think you have to go to hospital. Unless you want to." Gwen said, inspecting the cuts.

"No, no. I am not going to a hospital. I just want to go home." Courtney looked over to Heather, who was borderline passed out on Trent's shoulder. "She said she'd promise me a ride home..." Courtney began to worry. There was _no_ way she was going to hop into a car with Heather driving in her current state.

"I'll drive you home." Gwen said. It wasn't like she was dying to stick around anyway.

"Thanks, Gwen."

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The party was nearing it's end. Trent had mainly been hanging around Heather since the whole 'Courtney almost falling off her balcony' incident. He was still mad at Heather for making him break up with Gwen, but those those feelings could wait. Right now, his main priority was to make sure that Heather didn't die from alcohol poisoning. He couldn't stay with her all night though, he had to get going.

Trent went around looking for Cody. There were significantly less people now, so it wasn't that hard to find laying on a couch. "Cody man, it's getting late. I was thinking of heading home now. You can get home on your own?"

"Sure thing dude..." Cody gave him a sluggish thumbs up. "I totallyyy can get home, just watch me, I can walk like a pro." Cody got up from off the couch, but immediately fell. Like Heather, Cody was completely out of it. It could be because Duncan spiked the drinks or it could be because Cody's a lightweight, either way Trent was over the moon to deal with another drunk person.

"C'mon bud, you're coming with me." Trent said as he lifted Cody onto his back. He definitely didn't trust Cody to walk back home on his own. Luckily, Cody was light and he only lived a couple streets down, so it wasn't a huge inconvenience for Trent. Trent found Heather again, "Heather, I'm taking Cody home. Call me if anything happens. Anyway I'll probably be back next door in half an hour." He wasn't sure if Heather heard any of that, as she didn't respond, but he left anyway.

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The night air was warm. It was the end of spring, but it already felt like it was knee deep into summer. Trent and Cody passed an endless amount of upper-middle class houses without saying a word to each other. Cody decided to pipe up when they turned a corner. "Trent?"

"Mhm?" Trent was too tired to really engage in a conversation right now.

"You wanna know who I like?" Trent laughed at this. Everyone knew who Cody liked. It wasn't even as if he was trying to hide it.

"Hmm, let me guess. Gwen?" Trent humoured him for a bit.

"Nope!" Cody said joyfully.

This caught Trent off guard, but he decided to play on. "Who is it then?"

"Noah." Trent stopped dead in his tracks.

"Cody, what? _Noah?_ " This gained no response from Cody, he'd just fallen asleep on Trent's shoulder. There Trent stood, in the middle of the sidewalk, absolutely confused by what Cody just told him. "Fucking hell, Cody." 


	4. Something More Than Heartache

The stressful week of final exams had ended for the Year Elevens. After sleepless nights, last minute cramming, and half-assed answers, all the students finally had the rest of the Friday to do whatever they want. All the students except for Trent and Heather, whose families decided to celebrate the end of exam week by having a grandiose dinner at the latter's household.

Heather's house was pristine, not a thing out of place, stark contrast to the events occurring at this residence just a week ago. Even though all four of Heather's siblings were also situated at the large wooden dinner table, the room was dead silent. There was still an obvious tension between the two teens sat at opposite ends of the table. Although words weren't being exchanged, death glares certainly were.

Trent's mum decided to break the silence, "Trent dear, how did your exams go? Think you did good?"

Trent was about to reply when his dad barked in, "All that matters is the maths exam, right Trent? Gotta get good marks to be a successful accountant like me." Trent's dad wasn't lying about that last part. He was one of the best accountants in the city and much to his son's dismay, he wanted Trent to follow right in his footsteps. No, he wanted Trent to follow his footsteps and then march on forward further in the same direction. To say that Trent didn't want this would be a massive understatement.

"I don't know. Had a lot of stuff on my mind these past few days," Trent said as he poked his steamed broccoli with his fork. Heather scoffed at his dig at her, while everyone else just exchanged quick glances of confusion with each other. "Hey mum, I'm feeling a bit sick, I might just head home now and sleep." This was a lie. Trent just couldn't stand to be in the same room as Heather.

Trent's mum started, "Oh sweetie, you sure you can't stay around until everyone's finished their dinner? We're guests and it'd be disrespectful to-"

"Don't be silly!" Heather's father interrupted.

Heather's mother chimed in, "Trent worked so hard this week, he must be tired. Go on, let him go home." Both of Heather's parents dotted on Trent, he was perfect in their eyes. With their permission, Trent got up to rinse his plate and left.

Immediately, Heather got up from her spot and followed him. "Heather, _young lady,_ you get back here!" Her father yelled.

"You do not have permission to leave the table!" Heather didn't listen to her mother though and continued going after Trent.

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Trent was already halfway up his driveway when Heather caught up with him. They both stood in the warm summer sunset, silent. Neither of them really knew what to say. Trent _wanted_ to tell Heather that he didn't want to speak with her or even see her, but he had already made that pretty clear. After a couple more seconds of not saying anything, Trent decided that this wasn't worth his time. "I'm not gonna deal with this right now..." He said under his breath as he began walking back to the front double doors of his house.

"Are you seriously still mad at me? Listen, I got enough of a punishment from my father for the whole smashed balcony dream fiasco, I don't need you to still be acting pissy with me." Heather finally said with her own anger in her voice.

"Am I still- Yes, of course I'm still mad at you! You ruined my perfectly good relationship!" Trent turned back to yell at her.

"How many goddam times to I have to say it?! I am sorry! S-O-R-R-Y! Sorry!" She crossed her arms in annoyance. It wasn't like Heather to apologise for her actions, so Trent knew that she was being sincere.

"Yeah, well sorry isn't going to fix my relationship!"

"And _you've_ definitely tried to fix that relationship, haven't you?" Heather said sarcastically with a smirk. "Is there a reason why you haven't bothered to tell Gwen that I made the whole thing up?" Heather began to walk confidently over to Trent, regaining the upper hand in this argument. "I'm sure if you just flashed her your charming little smile and played her a song or two about how you messed up, she'd take you back in an instant. But no, you've decided to keep quiet about this? I wonder why..."

Trent fell silent. He couldn't come up with anything to say back to her because everything she was saying was...true. He _knew_ that he just apologised enough, Gwen would take him back. However, Trent hadn't even spoken to Gwen since the night of the Semi-Formal. This wasn't an accident too. Since the breakup, Gwen had been giving him dirty looks and just being kind of a bitch to Trent. Even though she said she was, it was clear that she wasn't over the breakup. And after many back and forward discussions with himself, Trent had decided that he didn't want to get back together with someone like that, even though he had the perfect opportunity to.

"Guess I found my answer." Heather said triumphantly. "You don't want to get back together with Gwen. So _why_ are you still so mad about this? It's been a week."

Now, Trent genuinely didn't have an answer for this. All he knew was that he wanted to be left alone and go write some songs about how shitty he was feeling. "Don't know, don't care. But I'm outta here." Trent dug his hands into his pockets and began to walk towards his front porch.

"Fine. But you can't ignore me forever!" Heather yelled back to him. "I know where you live!" She said in a half-joking half-threatening tone as she jumped the fence back into her yard. In Heather's eyes, that conversation had been a success. It gave her the thought that maybe Trent wasn't mad at her. Maybe there was something more to it.


	5. Love and Pleasantries

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\- Time skip of about 2 months -

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"Sorting roses is a _really_ important job for the Head Boy and Head Girl," Noah rolled his eyes. It was a warm summer day and he and Courtney were in an empty classroom, organising notes attached to roses for Valentines Day. The summer holidays for the former Year Elevens came and went quickly. For Trent, most of his days consisted of hanging at Cody's place, playing video games and making up a lot of cheesy love songs. Gwen spent most of her days either going out with Leshawna or when she decided she didn't want to be social, she'd go to the local library to read with Noah. Now, they were all two weeks into their final year of secondary school and little did they know, this year would be even more dramatic than the last.

"It _is_ important, Noah." Courtney said as she hit him on the head with a rose. "Plus, it's interesting reading all of these 'Declarations of Love'." She looked down at the note she was holding. It was addressed to Zoey, accompanied with it was a really shoddily written poem. "Shame they're all anonymous, though."

"Ah yes what a shame, because meddling with other people's love lives is exactly my idea of fun." The sarcasm was dripping from Noah's voice.

"It's _not_ meddling." Courtney said defensively.

"Besides, the notes are handwritten. If you are _so_ incredibly desperate to know who wrote these, can't you just match up the handwriting? Come on Court, I thought you were smart enough to figure that out."

Courtney decided to ignore the insult, "Sorry that I don't know the entire school's handwriting off the top of my head."

"Unlike some people." Noah said with an cunning smile.

"There's no way you can actually tell whose writing is whose." Courtney went back to sorting the flowers.

"Oh, I can."

"Can you just read one then? Please?" Courtney pleaded.

"No."

"You're no fun, Noah."

"That's a bit rich coming from you. Anyway, I already said I'm not messing with other peoples private lives."

Courtney saw in her hands a rose with a particular note attached to it. And that particular note was addressed to guy standing at the table beside her. "Oh that's too bad, especially since I just picked up a rose with _your_ name on it..."

"Whatever, nice joke Head Girl, real funny." As if Noah would of gotten a Valentines Day letter, the last one he got was all the way back in Year Four. He thought that surely Courtney was playing a joke just to get back at him for refusing to take part in her scheme.

Courtney cleared her throat and started reading dramatically, "'Dear Noah, words can't explain my feelings for you," Courtney tried to hold back her laughter, "I hope you smile as you read this and that you have a lovely Valentines Day. From, your secret admirer..." Courtney was now on the floor, clutching her stomach from all the laughter.

"Give me that! Not even you could come up with something that bad." Noah tried to snatch the rose away from Courtney.

Courtney regained her composure, "Oh! But I thought that goody-two shoes, Mr. Head Boy, Noah doesn't 'meddle in other people's love lives'?" She said that last part in a rather awful impression of him.

"I don't sound like that! But _anyway,_ I said _other_ people's love lives. This is technically mine, so give me the goddam note."

"Fine." Courtney almost handed him the note, only for her to quickly snatch it back, "But first we make a deal. I give you this note and you have to analyse the handwriting on another note for me. Deal?"

"Deal." Noah said as he took the note from Courtney. Surely enough, what was on the note was exactly Courtney said. The only thing that Courtney failed to mention was the fact that the note was typed up. Noah looked disappointed. "Of course this is the only one that's typed up. Gotta give whoever wrote this props. They may be pathetic at professing their love, but at least they're smart enough to not embarrass themselves. Oh, by the way, the deal? So off."

Courtney looked at him with puppy dog eyes, "Please Noah?"

He let out a heavy sigh, "Okay, fine. But if I'm gonna be meddling, _I'm_ the one who gets to choose my victim." Noah looked through the remaining roses. He saw one for Leshawna, but he didn't even need to look at the note to know that Harold wrote it. There were also ones for Heather, Trent, Lindsay, and Geoff, but none of those interested him. However, his eyes did light up when he saw Gwen's name. "She needs a bit of love in her life." Noah said as he reached for the rose.

Courtney looked over her shoulder to see who he had chosen and began to freak out when she saw the name, "Not that one!"

Noah looked at her with a great amount of confusion. "She's the one I hate the least out of the people left, so yeah, I'm choosing her." However, as soon as Noah laid eyes on the neat and pristine writing, he knew exactly why Courtney had reacted like that. "Uhh, Courtney? Mind passing me your notepad?"

"W-why do you need my notepad?" Courtney was sweating, eyes darting around the room, not wanting to make eye contact with Noah.

" _Now._ " Noah demanded. Courtney meekly handed over her notepad. Noah carefully inspected each piece of writing. He had to make sure that they weren't written by the same person. However...definitely they were. "You like Gwen?"

Courtney hid her face behind her hands, "...yes."

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that?" Noah was enjoying seeing Courtney flustered, such a contrast to her usually authoritative and confident self.

"You heard me the first time."

"Why though?" Rose sorting had completely stopped by now.

Courtney was a bit confused. "Why what?"

"Don't play dumb, Ms. Head Girl. Like, Gwen's great and all, but why do _you_ like _her?_ "

If she was being honest, Courtney didn't completely know why herself. "You know the afterparty at Heather's last year?"

"No. I don't go to parties." Noah said blankly.

"Oh. Well long story short, I almost fell off a balcony, but Gwen saved me. And that basically confirmed to me that everything that Heather was saying about her wasn't true. And I don't know...kinda just went from there."

"I fucking knew that shit wasn't true." Noah cursed under his breath.

"But you're not allowed to repeat any of this to _any_ one. Especially not your little gossip group, Gwen and Leshawna." Courtney threatened him.

"Wasn't planning on it. How many times do I have to tell you? I don't meddle in other people's love lives. Now let's get back to our ever-so important job." 


	6. I'll Order Jealousy With a Side of Envy

"Ugh, where is she?" Heather muttered while she looked at her phone for the 5th time in the last minute. The school bell rang seven minutes ago and Courtney still hadn't shown up at the gates where Heather was waiting. Each Friday, Heather and Courtney would always go down to main street and eat at a little bakery called Patel's Pastries, but Courtney was no where to be found.

Eventually, the crowd died down and Heather was the only student still waiting at the gates. Finally, Courtney emerged from a classroom and ran down to Heather. "What were you up to Court? Head Girl duties again?" Heather asked.

"Ah no, sorry, I was just talking to Gwen." Courtney replied as the two began walking in the direction of the bakery.

They passed streets, cars, and buildings. "Gwen? Why were you talking to Gwen?"

Courtney twirled a bit of hair between her fingers, "Oh, y'know just stuff."

"Stuff?"

"Gee Heather, if I didn't know better I'd think you're interrogating me!" Courtney joked. "But yeah, just stuff for the Arts festival."

"Right." Something about Courtney talking to Gwen struck a nerve in Heather.

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The aroma of freshly cooked curry pies and pastries filled Heather and Courtney's noses when they walked into the cafe. From behind the counter, Noah rolled his eyes. The worst thing about working at his parents cafe by far was the fact that he constantly had to serve his fellow classmates.

The pair ordered their usual drinks, a masala chai for Courtney and coconut water for Heather. Their knives cut into the chicken curry pie that they were sharing. They were happily enjoying their meal, talking about stuff like who they hated and whose party they were going to go to that weekend. The conversation was carrying on as usual until Courtney's phone dinged.

On her lock screen, the message read Gwen's name and Courtney's eyes immediately lit up. Suddenly, it was as if whatever she and Heather had previously been talking about had been thrown out the window and didn't matter anymore. Courtney quickly grabbed her phone and began texting away.

To this, Heather subtly coughed, "At my house, it's typically seen as rude to have your phone at the table."

"I know, I've had dinner with your parents countless of times. But since you're my best friend ever, I'll put my phone away," Courtney smiled as she put her phone back into her bag.

"Who were you messaging anyway? You looked pretty happy texting them Court..." Heather was curious.

"Hm? Hehe did I? It was just Gwen." Courtney nervously giggled. She wanted to change the topic from something that didn't have to do with Gwen, Courtney didn't know how much longer she could pretend not to have a massive crush on Gwen. And Heather couldn't ever learn about that crush, otherwise she'd totally hate Courtney forever. Or for like, a month, but when you're in high school, a month and forever don't really seem all that different.

"Ah. Right," Heather took another sip from her coconut water. She didn't know why it was bothering her so much. Courtney was _allowed_ to have other friends. She hung out with Bridgette a lot and Heather didn't have any problem with that. But it was _Gwen,_ the creepy, loner, goth chic.

Courtney interrupted Heather's contemplation, "I'm just gonna pop to the bathroom." She got up and pushed her chair in.

Heather slumped in her chair. The scrunching of her eyebrows and tight lipped expression made it obvious she wasn't in a talking mood. However, Noah didn't seem to care, as he went to wipe down the table next to hers.

"Wow Heather, you look like you're in a worse mood than usual. Did you get dumped but yet another guy?"

Heather scoffed, "Real funny, Noah. You jealous that I can actually get guys?"

"Yes, I'm definitely jealous of all the sleazy guys you've dated. I'm just passing the time of this monotonous job by making fun of you. It's quite fun, actually." Noah said.

"Honestly, I'm really not in the mood for talk to you. Or anyone for that matter," Heather crossed her arms and her eyes fell on Courtney's empty seat.

"Really? Couldn't tell." Noah noted that Heather's eyes were still fixated on Courtney's seat. "Something up with Courtney?" Usually Noah didn't really care for other people's friendship drama, but he needed something to entertain him until his shift was over.

"You're best friends with Gwen, right? Do you think it's weird that her and Courtney are all buddy-buddy all of a sudden?" It felt as if Heather was interrogating Noah.

Sweat beaded on Noah's forehead. He knew he couldn't spill Courtney's secret, especially to Heather. Luckily for him, he was a pretty good liar. "Gwen probably just wants some more friends, she's been a bit lonely after Trent and Cody stopped hanging out with her."

"I still think it's weird. I bet they won't be friends for much longer." A silence fell between the two.

Noah began clearing a near table. "As much fun as it is gossiping about your friendships, I gotta go back to looking like I'm doing work." He went to go back to standing behind the counter.

Soon after that, Courtney returned to her seat. She noticed that there was something off with Heather, "You alright?"

Heather was caught off guard. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied quickly.


	7. Accidental Confessions Cause Major Aggression

"Hey Heather, I think I left my jacket here," Trent opened the front door of Heather's house. It only took a few seconds for the stench of alcohol to hit him. "Not again..." He muttered under his breath. "Heather!" He called out to her, but he got no response. Guess he had to go on his own search for her.

He went to check Heather's usual spot whenever she drank, which was the bathrooms. However, he checked all of them and Heather was nowhere to be found. He was about to head about downstairs when he heard a mumbling coming from Heather's room. Opening the door to her room, Trent found Heather half passed out in her bed, blankets wrapped around her, and phone in her right hand and a bottle of alcohol in her left.

Trent sighed, "Heather, what are you doing?"

"...didn't feel like getting up today..." Heather mumbled out, in a slur.

Trent's face filled with concern, "You haven't gotten up all day? Heather, it's 6 p.m!"

"I know...just want to sleep," Heather said as she pulled the blanket over her face and turned away from Trent. Worry filled Trent's face. Lately, she had been drinking a lot more than usual and staying in bed all day definitely was out of character for queen bee Heather. Trent wanted to ask her what was going on, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to get a semi-comprehensible answer out of her in her current state.

Trent sighed, "I'm gonna get you a glass of water. And something to eat." He then snatched the empty alcohol bottle away from her, but she didn't take any notice.

A few minutes later, Trent came back upstairs with a glass of water and some sandwiches in tow. Upon his return, Heather was still in the same position as when he left, except it appeared she had fallen asleep this time. Gently, Trent placed down the glass and sandwiches onto her beside table, careful not to wake her. Trent knew that she'd be thankful for that water and food the next time she woke.

Trent decided that it was probably leave the confronting conversation until the next morning, so he promptly went back to his house next door after finding his jacket in the living room.

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The next morning came to Heather with painfully bright rays of sunshine and a throbbing headache to match. She couldn't remember much from yesterday. Not that there _was_ much to remember other than scrolling through social media, seeing her best friend Courtney constantly tag Gwen in shit.

Heather rolled over in her bed and saw something on her bedside table. A cup of water and a sandwich. Who could of left it? Heather knew that she wouldn't be _that_ good at taking care of herself. So it must of been...Trent. Ah, of course. Right then, Heather half-remembered Trent coming over the day before and the 'conversation' they had. Why did Trent have to see her like that? It was basically now inevitable that Trent was going to bug her about why she drank an entire bottle of wine. Again.

The world must of hated Heather, because a few minutes later Trent knocked on the door and entered the room. "Fuck off," Heather hissed as soon as she caught sight of him.

"Good morning to you too," Trent walked over and sat down on her bed. "I'm guessing you probably already know what I'm going to ask. Or were you too drunk to remember?"

"Whatever," Heather stuffed her face with the sandwich, "I don't need you to keep on checking up on me."

Trent eyed up the now empty glass of water and almost finished sandwich."Judging by how quickly you went to town on those, I think I do." Heather didn't respond or even look at him in the eyes and just continued chewing. "Why were you drinking yesterday?"

"Why do you care?" Heather responded harshly.

"Stop deflecting," Trent sternly said. He wasn't going to let this go.

Heather was silent in thought for a moment. "...have you noticed Courtney's been acting different lately? Like, acting weird?"

What Heather said ran through Trent's mind for a bit. He and Courtney were friendly, but they hadn't ever talked much, so Trent didn't really pay attention to her. To him, she was just Heather's Type-A best friend. Although, if he really thought about it, Courtney had been acting a little less strict and authoritative, and more giggly lately. "Uh, gee Heather, I don't think I-"

Heather interjected, "She's been more bubbly, right? _And_ she's been talking to Gwen a whole lot! Every time she receives a text from that goth, she lights up and smiles and whatever. I don't _get_ it."

"Sounds like she has a little crush Gwen."

Heather's jaw dropped, "You don't actually think that, do you?"

"I don't see the big deal. You think she's gonna ditch you for Gwen or something?"

"Ha! As if she'd ditch me for that goth freak." Heather laughed just at the idea of that. Her and Courtney had been best friends for _years,_ boys had never gotten between them and now a girl certainly wouldn't.

"Then why are you so upset about this?" Trent asked.

Heather raised her defences, "Well, she never acts that way around me! I rarely ever see that side of Courtney. Like, all the stuff that I say or do never makes her smile or the way she does around Gwen!"

Trent laughed, which caused Heather to look at him with confusion. "Heather, seriously? I think that _you_ like Courtney."

Anger took over Heather, "Are you joking right now? Are you seriously fucking saying I'm a lesbian?"

The sudden change in Heather's tone shocked Trent. He put his hands up, "Hey woah, woah wait-"

"No, _get out of my room."_ Heather threw a pillow at him as he got up from her bed.

"Heather, I'm sorr-"

"Just fucking leave, ok?" With those harsh words, Trent left Heather to dwell within her own dark emotions. How did he know? _How did he know?_ It was supposed to be a secret! Heather had tried so hard all these years to make sure that not a single person would _ever_ know that she likes girls. Hell, she went as far to date multiple guys just to further prove it! If her parents ever found out that she was a lesbian, she'd be an even bigger disappointment to them than she already was. But now Trent had just gone and ruined all of it for Heather.

Still, a question lingered in Heather's mind for longer than she'd like to admit to. Did she actually like Courtney?


	8. Irresponsibility At its Finest

The chime on the Patel’s Pastries door rang, signalling that another customer had come to munch on some Indian inspired cuisine. That customer happened to be Cody. The wonderful smell of spices and coffee hit him and if he hadn’t just eaten takeout for lunch, he would have definitely ordered one of the bakery’s famous samosas. However, Cody was there for a very different reason other than to stuff his stomach with food.

From behind the counter Noah started speaking in his ‘customer service’ voice, not yet knowing who just walked in, “Good afternoon, welcome to Patel’s Pastries, what can I-“ He stopped for a second when he noticed that the customer was Cody his…friend? They hadn’t really talked much the past few months. Noah let out a sigh, “You’ve got to be shitting me. If I have to deal with anyone else from school this week, I swear to god…”

“Good afternoon to you too! Gotta say, love the customer service here,” Cody said while leaning against the counter. 

“What are you doing here?” Noah asked bluntly.

“Talking to you, obviously. Why, do you not want me here? Ouch Noah, that hurts.” Cody feigned pain.

“No Cody, I really do want you here, having someone annoy me throughout my shift makes this shitty job all the more enjoyable.” Noah said sarcastically.

“Hey Noah, I’ve been thinking-“

“That’s not good.”

“I’ll pretend you didn’t say that. Anyway, I’ve been thinking we should hang out. Like, today. We used to be like this,” Cody crossed his two fingers together, “but now, we’re like this,” he pulled his two fingers apart. Before the whole Gwen and Trent breakup, he and Noah were quite good friends. They were the only ones of their friends who got each others subtle video game references.

“Yeah well, you’ve been busy recently, haven’t you? Hanging out with Trent and all.” Noah said, somewhat bitterly. It wasn’t as if he was lying about it, though. Whenever he had free time, Cody could usually be found with Trent. And sometimes that in turn led to him hanging out with Heather, which he didn’t really enjoy.

“Trent’s just been going through some stuff. Like you know the whole ‘dad pressuring him to be an accountant when he really does not want to be an accountant’ thing. Plus, I’ve missed playing video games with someone who could actually beat me,” Cody said. Again, this was very true, Trent sucked at video games.

“Well, you’re just in luck then, my shift ends in three hours. If your hyperactive, easily distracted mind can sit here until I’m finished, then we can hang out.” Noah said, not even thinking that Cody would take him up on that offer.

“Ok!” Cody said as he took a seat. This was going to be a fun few hours.

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“Noahhh, it’s been three hours,” Cody whined, with his head against the bakery table. The challenge of waiting for 180 whole minutes with absolutely nothing to do was way harder than he had first anticipated. It was going to be worth it though, he really wanted to hangout with Noah.

“I know, you really don’t think I haven’t been counting down the minutes until I can leave this place?” Noah said as he took off his apron and went to hang it up.

“Finally! Hold up, I’m gonna get my car, I parked it down the street.” Cody bolted up from his seat and dashed out of the bakery.

“He seriously drove all the way here…” Noah muttered to himself. He didn’t really pay it any mind though, he was just excited to lay back, relax and play some video games.

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Noah waited out the back of the bakery, waiting for Cody to pick him up. Cody pulled up in his electric blue dented Mercedes and rolled down the windows, “Wanna lift?”

“You have a fucking _Mercedes?_ Since when?” Noah knew that Cody’s family was rich, but Jesus Christ dude.

“Yeah, parents got it for me for Christmas. They said it makes up for them never being around.” Cody shrugged.

Noah shook his head as he got into the passenger seat of the vehicle, “You’ve only had this car since Christmas and you’ve already got multiple dents in it? Who ever gave you your licence must have been high on something.”

Cody started to reverse out of the bakery’s parking lot, “Oh, I don’t have my licence.”

“Cody, what the fuck?”

“Hush hush, nothing to be worried about. Besides, I think I live like five streets away, eight max.”

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After Cody getting lost (twice), he and Noah had finally made it back to his house. He parked his car in the driveway and the two boys made their way to the front of the house. “See Noah? Perfectly fine. I didn’t even hit an old lady this time!”

“This time…” Noah said under his breath. What did he even mean by ‘this time’? Cody unlocked the front door and let Noah in. 

The bright white of the house’s interior illuminated on Noah’s face. It had been awhile since he last been at the Anderson’s residence, he had almost forgotten what it looked like. But all the fancy and extravagant paintings and decorations were a sore reminder to Noah of how rich Cody Anderson was.

The two climbed up the winding stairs adorned with golden handrails up towards Cody’s room. The hallways of Cody’s house twisted and turned and lead to god knows where.

“Dude, I forgot that your house was just one big maze.” Noah said as they got closer to Cody’s room. As a response, Cody just shrugged. He usually got uncomfortable whenever someone brought up his wealth or how big his house is.

“Well, we’re here. Let’s play some video games!” Cody opened the door to his bedroom. Strewn across the floor were a mess of clothes, an unhealthy amount of empty Mountain Dew bottles and a bunch of randomly placed instruments on the floor.

“You seriously live in this pigsty? Your room was messy last time I came over, but it was never this…disgusting.” Noah asked in disbelief. The fact that Cody could even have room to think in there amazed him.

“When you don’t have parents constantly telling you to do stuff, you can live your life how you want to, ‘know?” Cody slumped down onto one of his bean bags, grabbing a game controller.

Noah sat down on the other bean bag. “Uh, where are your parents this time?”

Cody had to think about it for a moment, “…Morocco? No wait, they were there two weeks ago…Oh right! My mum’s in London and my dad’s in Paris.”

“Right.” Noah looked a bit concerned about how nonchalant Cody was being about his parents being gone on their third business trip this month. 

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The two played some video games for the next couple hours. Cody would win against Noah a few times, but overall, Noah was far better virtually kicking ass than Cody was. Noah looked at his watch, it had just passed seven pm. “Yeah, I should get going. Y’know how dinner’s basically a whole entire event with my parents.”

“Right, yeah.” Cody sounded a bit sad that his parents didn’t care for him like Noah’s parents cared for Noah. “I’ll drive you home,” he said, already grabbing the car keys.

“Thanks, but no, my sister’s picking me up. One of the few good things about having eight older siblings is that I basically always have a ride.” Noah grabbed his bag and he and Cody walked down to the front door.

“Today hasn’t been as awfully boring as I thought it was going to be. Thanks.” Noah said as he got in his sister’s car.

“No problem, dude! See ya at school.” Cody waved him off.

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Cody walked back into his cold, empty house. It was dinner time, so he thought he outta prepare something with a bit nutritional value than another bottle of Mountain Dew. He opened up one of the cook books that his parents left him. As much as he tried to understand the recipes written on the pages, he just couldn’t. All of the meals were some fancy-schmancy dishes by world class chefs and Cody’s parents never even bothered to teach him to make something as simple as pasta. He sighed as he dialled a number into his state-of-the-art brand new smartphone, courtesy of his parents, of course. Looks like it was fast food pizza for him. Again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me chanting in the background as i'm writing this: angst angst angst angst angst angst angst angst angst angst angst angst  
> get ready for the next chapter. it's gonna be wildddd


	9. Show Some School Spirit

Gwen and Courtney walked into the school yard together, arms linked, and laughs escaping from both of their mouths. If Heather saw the two of them right now, she’d have a right fit. However, there was no chance that Heather would be seen today, as everyone at school was setting up for the Arts Festival and Heather would rather wear something out of style than we caught helping set up some dingy festival.

Gwen looked up towards the sky of the courtyard. Clouds of grey were congregating above the school, plotting when they should release their downfall. “You think it’s gonna rain today?” She asked.

“It better not,” Courtney responded. “I have put too much time into planning this festival for all of it to go to waste just because of a few drops of rain.” Courtney looked down towards her phone, “According to the forecast, it not even meant to rain today, so I think we’ll be fine. Or, at least we will be fine if Noah actually decides to show up.” She crossed her arms in annoyance.

“Don’t worry Head Girl, he’ll show eventually. I texted him a few minutes ago and apparently he woke up only an hour ago.” Gwen reassured her. “But knowing Noah, it’s probably gonna take him at least half an hour to get ready.”

“Great. Remind again me how exactly Sir Lazypants got voted in to be Head Boy?” Courtney asked.

For a moment, Gwen paused. She mustn’t have told Courtney that she, Leshawna and Noah snuck into the school after hours and rigged the votes so that Noah would win. Gwen will just keep that her little secret. “Gee, wouldn’t have a clue. Hey, I’m gonna set up my paintings while you do…whatever Head Girls do.” Gwen quickly darted to the Art room.

Courtney huffed as she went to try find something to or someone to talk to. She had almost made the rounds until she entered the gym and spotted Cody and Trent standing by the speakers of the speakers of the stage. Finally, something to keep her occupied. “Trent, Cody! What’re you two doing?”

“Ah, hey Courtney,” Trent fiddled with some wires. “Just trying to figure out how to get this sound system working. I wanna sound perfect when I’m up on stage.”

“Oh, cool,” She leaned against one of the steps of the stage, “You two performing tomorrow?”

“He is, I’m not.” Cody replied. “I’m just here to help out.”

“Not to be rude or anything,” Trent started, “but I don’t think the Head students are required to be here? And I never pegged you as the artsy type.”

Courtney twirled her hair, “O-oh, I’m just helping Gwen out!”

Trent smirked, “So you’re here just for Gwen, huh?”

A blush immediately spread across Courtney’s face, “N-no! I’m just being a good friend, okay?” Trent and Cody exchange a look, a look of ‘oh we definitely know what’s actually going on here.’ 

“Okay, Courtney,” Cody said.

“Whatever you say, Head Girl,” Trent went back to fiddling with wires.

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Begrudgingly, Noah had finally arrived, “Courtney, care to tell me why you dragged me here at nine in the morning?”

Courtney clutched her clipboard, “Because Noah, there needs to be someone here who I can actually talk to. Everyone else is busy and Heather refused to be around these art nerds all day.” 

“You mean I had the option to tell you no? Guess I’ll be going then,” Noah started to leave.

“Nope. You’re staying here.” Courtney’s gaze turned towards Gwen, who was hanging up one of her paintings.

“For someone who wants to keep her little crush a secret, you sure are doing a shitty job at it,” Noah stated. 

Courtney’s face fell, “Is it that obvious?”

“Other than the fact that you’re practically drooling over her, it’s not obvious at all,” he rolled his eyes.

“Well then, guess there’s no use hiding it now. I should ask her out today.”

“Wait no, that’s not what I meant-“

“Oh it’ll be so cute! I’ll take her out to the school garden and I’ll tell her there!” Courtney gushed. There was a bad feeling brewing down in Noah’s stomach. He had been friends with Gwen for years and he had an itch that she hadn’t entirely gotten over Trent. But he just thought that it’d be best to let Courtney figure that out herself. He didn’t feel like ruining Courtney’s dreams today, he’d leave that job to Gwen.

“Yeah sure, it’ll be great…” Noah trailed off as Courtney began to drag on and on about Gwen.

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After about an hour, both Noah and Courtney were sitting down on the gymnasium floor, bored out of their minds. Courtney’s phone buzzed, finally breaking the chain of boredom. She had got a text from Trent that said, ‘hey court could ya somehow get noah to the music room without being totally suspicious?’ She glanced up from her phone, “Hey uhh Noah, could you get like two more…music stands from the music room?”

Noah groaned, “Why do I have to do it? And don’t we have enough music stands?”

“Apparently not. Now shoo!” Courtney shoved Noah out of the doors.

Rain started to lightly fall, only to get heavier the closer that Noah got to the music centre. He entered the room full of scattered music sheets and strewn about instruments, only to find Cody searching through some papers. 

“Have you been sent off to do someone else’s job too?” Noah asked.

“Yep! I’m just…trying to find Trent’s sheet music…for his performance.” Cody sifted through some torn up and wrinkled papers.

“Kinda last minute. You’d think he’d be more prepared.” Noah looked through the music storage room.

“R-right.” Cody awkwardly laughed.

“Hey, mind telling me where the hell the music stands are?” Noah said when he noticed that there wasn’t a single stand in sight.

“Uhh, I think they’re all already backstage?” Cody said.

Noah groaned, “Courtney’s about to get an earful. Well anyway, I’m off.” He went to open the door to the outside, where rain was pouring heavily.

“Uhh, Noah,” Cody pointed to the ground outside, “It’s a bit flooded out there.”

“And? It’s water. It’s not gonna kill anyone.” Noah opened the door, only for water to start immediately rushing in. Quickly, he slammed the door shut, but the carpet around Noah was soaked. “Well shit.”

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“God, I’m finally done setting up,” Gwen sighed as she slumped onto the floor, next to Courtney. 

“About time. Genuinely thought I was about to die of boredom over here.” Courtney smiled at her.

“What a shame that would have been,” Gwen rolled her eyes, to which Courtney responded with a punch. 

“Well, now that you’ve got time,” Courtney grabbed Gwen’s hand, “come with me.”

Courtney guided Gwen through the twisted hallways of the school, down all the way to the school gardens. The rain was pouring too hard to be standing in the middle of the garden, so the two girls opted to stay in the undercover area.

A wide smile formed across Courtney’s face as she spoke, “So I can’t even believe I’m doing this, but I just wanted to tell you something.” She could hear the beating of her heart quicken. “I wanted to tell you that I like you. Like, more than a friend like.” Courtney closed her eyes as she waited for a response.

Gwen stood in confusion. Over the past weeks, she had only thought that Courtney thought of her as a friend. She loved hanging out with Courtney. Sure, Noah and Leshawna were great, but it was so refreshing for Gwen to be making friends with someone new. And Courtney seemed to genuinely care about her. But Gwen didn’t feel the same way.

“I-I’m sorry, Courtney.” As soon as Gwen said that, Courtney’s face dropped. “I like you…but as a friend. And please, I still want to be friends!” It killed Gwen to see Courtney’s heart break right before her very eyes.

“O-oh…okay. It’s fine.” Courtney rubbed her eyes. Gwen tried to grab her arm, but Courtney swatted it away, “It’s all good! I swear. I’ll just…be going now.” Courtney ran out into the rain, her tears mixing with the rain droplets.

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Noah leaned back against a stack of instrument cases, reading a music theory book. If he was going to be trapped in a room with nothing else to do, he might as well read. Suddenly, a flash of lighting filled the entire room with a blinding light, causing Cody to jump. Only seconds later, an enormous bout of thunder rippled through the entire school.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Cody muttered to himself. He was sitting on the carpet floor, hugging his knees, and facing away from the window.

Noah thought that this was a bit odd, “Cody? You good there?” 

“Oh, i-it’s nothing!” Another bolt of lightning and rock of thunder hit the school, which made Cody squeal. Noah raised his eyebrow at him. “Being 6 year old kid during a thunderstorm while both your parents are out on business trips and you’re left to cry to yourself while hiding under your parents bed is a pretty reasonable explanation for a fear of thunderstorms, haha am I right?” Cody said all in one breath as he clutched his head.

“Jesus Cody…” Noah said as he went down to sit next to him. He could hear Cody’s breath begin to quicken. “Okay, okay, Cody listen to me.” Tears were starting to form in Cody’s eyes. “Start counting up in threes.”

“…what?” Cody sniffled.

“Just do it.” Noah demanded. The sooner that he could get Cody distracted from the storm, the better.

“Okay…3…6…9,” Cody started counting. With each number he said, his breathing started to dissipate. Eventually Cody was calming down. “93…96.” It stayed quiet between the two for a moment. All that could be heard was the pitter patter of the rain against the roof of the building. “Thanks Noah.” Cody said weakly. “…how did you know how to do that?”

“Babysitting multiple of my younger nieces and nephews who hate thunderstorms really teaches you a thing or two,” Noah shrugged. He was just glad it was over. 

Noah looked outside the window, where he saw a figure. He squinted his eyes harder to get a better look of who it was. The soaked, short brown hair and disheveled embezzled blazer was a dead giveaway. It was Courtney. 

“Is that Courtney? Just standing in the rain?” Noah said to himself.

“Huh? Courtney?” Cody turned to get up.

“No, you’re staying here. I’m gonna check on her.” Noah said, as he went to look out the window. He saw her just standing in the middle of the courtyard, being pelted by rain. Her eyes were red and puffy. 

Noah didn’t care that he’d ruin the carpet, he opened the door and ran out, “Courtney! The fuck are you doing?” He yelled out to her. “Are you an idiot? Get inside!” 

As he walked closer to her, he noticed her sniffling. That’s when it hit him. “Oh shit…did she say-“

“Yes, she said no, Noah! She rejected me!” Courtney wailed. “I thought it was going so well…”

“Courtney, we can talk about this inside, but right now-“ A giant bolt of lightning cut off Noah’s plead. The lighting strike landed on the tree that was right next to Courtney, lighting it on fire.

“Holy shit!” Courtney screamed as she fell into Noah’s arms. Noah wasn’t much for affection, but he thought that it would be appropriate to hug her back.

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Noah, Courtney, and Cody all returned to the gym, towels around them to dry them up. Gwen and Trent sat with them too, and an awkward silence fell between all of them. “You know, Heather really had the right idea with not showing up today,” Noah spoke up.

“Too true…” Courtney said, all emotion drained from her voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> On today's episode of: Courtney nearly dies. I'll fix up the formatting of this chapter but oof. Angst.


	10. Trapped in Thoughts

“Trenton,” Trent’s dad called to his son in a deep gruff voice, “come down stairs at once.” Trent sucked in his breath, bracing himself for whatever his dad was mad about this time. His dad’s stare immediately shot right through Trent once he reached the bottom of the staircase. “What’s this about getting a 75% on your last maths test?”

Trent rubbed the back of his neck, “Oh right…”

“Do you think this is acceptable?” Trent’s dad asked, getting more and more upset. “Look at me, Trent.” Trent’s eyes did not meet with his dad’s. “For gods sake, you’ll never be an accountant if you keep getting scores like this.”

“Maybe I don’t want to be an accountant,” Trent mumbled under his breath. He hoped that his dad didn’t hear him, as he’d blow a gasket. 

“What was that? Speak up a bit, would ya.”

“Maybe I don’t _want_ to be an accountant,” Trent said, louder this time. As soon as those words left Trent’s mouth, he knew that he majorly screwed up.

“You don’t mean that. You’re just a bit disheartened from this terrible score, once you study a bit more you’ll be again on the path to becoming a successful accountant, like me.” Trent’s dad placed a hand on his shoulder as he reassured him.

“No, it’s not that,” Trent shoved his dad’s hand off his shoulder, “I’ve never wanted to be an accountant. _Ever._ I-I want to me a musician. _”_

Trent’s dad’s face fell. “A musician, huh? He wants to be a musician…” He chuckled to himself. “Trent, being a musician is just a dream. A dream you have when you’re a little kid. It ain’t gonna happen in the _real_ world. You gotta be realistic.”

“I am being realistic! It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do!” Trent hissed.  
“Well, you gotta get that idea out of your goddam head, and quick. Sorry to burst your bubble kiddo, but someone has to. You’re not gonna get anywhere being a musician.” 

The rate of Trent’s breathing started to increase. His heart was beating louder and louder, to a point where he couldn’t make out what his father was saying. He needed to get out of there.

Right in the middle of the conversation, Trent bolted right back up the staircase, into his room. He grabbed his jacket of the coat rack and began searching through his drawers. One after the other, he yanked open each drawer, rummaging through the contents. At the bottom of his beside table, he had finally found it. His old pack of cigarettes.

Quietly, he snuck past both his parents and out the front door of his house. Outside, the sun was showing it’s last slither of light as Trent made his way down the driveway. Behind him, he heard the closing slam of a door. He thought that he surely was caught sneaking out by one of his parents, but he heard Heather’s voice calling out to him.

“Trent!” She yelled. “What is a goody two-shoes like you doing sneaking out?” 

Trent didn’t even look at her, “Piss off, Heather.” 

Due to Trent’s harsh demeanour, Heather knew something was off. “Hey, you good? Cause you look like shit.”

“I’m _fine_ Heather.” Trent said.

“Wow, lying when you’re clearly having a breakdown? When did you turn into me?” Heather laughed as Trent stayed silent. “Seriously, what’s going on?”

“None of your business.” Heather looked like she was about to speak again, but Trent cut her off, “I’m leaving. I can’t deal with shit.” Trent walked down the street, hoodie over his head as he heard Heather yelling behind him. He wasn’t really sure where he was going. All he knew was it was bound to be better than what was at home.

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Trent stumbled upon the closed gates of the cemetery. Perfect. Trent scaled the fencing, jumping over to the grounds of the cemetery. Yes, this could have been considered as trespassing, but he didn’t really care at that moment. 

Although it was dark, Trent made his way around the trees, graves and dying flowers. He had done this trip so many times that he had practically memorised the final resting place of his grandpa. He fell to the grass patch next to the grave, while grabbing a cigarette and lighter. The idea of lighting it went through his head over and over again. It had been so long since he last smoked, was it worth deleting all that progress? His parents would kill him- no his _dad_ would kill him if he found out. And at the thought of his dad, it just made Trent want to smoke even more. He used to feel so good when he did. 

He lit the lighter and held it to the cigarette. Who cares if he’d regret it later? He’s living in the now.

Just as he lifted the cigarette to his mouth, he felt a tap on his shoulder. “Trent?” A voice whispered. 

“Holy shit!” Trent said, startled. He fumbled with the cigarette, eventually dropping it at letting it fall the to the ground. “Goddammit…” He looked behind him to see who the culprit was. To his disbelief, the person was Gwen. “Gwen? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” she fidgeted with her earrings and she went down to sit beside Trent. “It’s the anniversary of my dad.”

“Oh-uh shit, right, God I’m so sorry.” Trent had completely forgotten that that day five years ago, Gwen’s dad died when his car got hit by a drunk driver.

“It’s nicer to sneak in here at night,” Gwen hugged her knees close to her chest, “Not as many people. Less crowded. I feel like it’s easier to talk to him this way.

Trent smiled, “I get that. It’s like that with my grandpa too.”

“I wish I got to meet him. He seemed like a pretty cool dude.” Gwen said.

“Yeah…he really was,” Trent looked down to the cigarette box and lighter in his hands. A silence grew between the pair for a few seconds.

“Hey Trent…were you smoking?” Gwen asked. She was still dating Trent when he quit, it was quite unnerving to see him do it again. 

Trent stayed quiet while he tried to formulate a sentence. “Yes? No? I didn’t actually smoke, but god…” Trent buried his face in his hands. “But god, I want to.”

“I know it isn’t my place and we haven’t talked in forever, but you can tell me what happened,” Gwen looked at him.

“What am I destined for, Gwen?” Trent asked dramatically.

“Uh, well-“

“Is it to go into business like my dad thinks it is? Is he right when he says I’ll never make it as a musician? You know, in ten years from now I’ll probably be stuck doing some boring ass nine to five job, hating my life. My life will be consumed everyday by going to a job I hate with all my soul. Is that my destiny? To be miserable doing something I hate? I don’t think I’m ever going to be happy.” Trent cried.

“Well first of all, a cigarette isn’t going to solve any of that,” Gwen started, “and second of all, your dad’s a dick. Major dickhead. Biggest dickhead in the history of the universe. Your future is what you make of it. Trent, you’re talented. Like seriously talented, you’re better at music than anyone I know. You can get a scholarship at some big name uni and, and you can leave this town. Leave your dad. Become some semi-famous musician and do what you want. If music gives you happiness, then that’s what you need to pursue. And your dad just has to suck it up.” 

Trent wiped his face, “Thanks Gwen, really. Thank you.”

“Need a hug?” Gwen asked, arms open.

“Yeah,” Trent said weakly as he joined her embrace. There the two teen sat, in the middle of a graveyard at night, holding each other and surrounded by the smell of smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The main characters finally talked? Wow only took 12,000 words.


	11. Free

Courtney laid across Heather’s bed, mindlessly scrolling on her phone. It took her a few days to get over the painful sting of rejection, but now she had almost returned to her usual self. “Aw Heather, look at this!” Courtney turned her phone screen over to her friend.

Heather’s eyebrows furrowed, “…a picture of us doing ballet from when we were ten?” 

“Yeah, my mum just sent it to me. She’s been going through a lot of our old stuff lately,” she returned to scrolling. “You were really good at ballet, you know.” When the two were younger, they enrolled in ballet classes together. Courtney could not be more uncoordinated, but Heather was the exact opposite. From the moment she first step foot in the studio, it was as if her personality completely shifted. The usually loud-mouthed, rude child was filled with poise and grace. While all the other kids wobbled and stumbled their way through pirouettes, Heather’s talent shone through.

“You’re exaggerating. I wasn’t anything special,” Heather scoffed.

“No, I’m serious, you were amazing. You should pick it up again.”

“The day my parents agree to that is the day Lindsay gets Tyler’s name right. It ain’t gonna happen. They’re the reason why I quit in the first place.” Heather’s parents thought that she was spending too much time focusing on something useless and that she should put more effort into her studies.

“But what if they didn’t know?” Courtney cooed. “We both know that you’re not against going behind your parents back.”

“Court, I’ve gotta get the money somehow.” 

“A family friend just started running classes at the studio we used to go to. I’m sure with enough persuading, I’ll convince him to let you join in for free,” Courtney said with determination.

“I still don’t know about this.” 

“Just think about it.”

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“I can’t believe she convinced me to do this…” Heather gritted through her teeth as she stood before the doors of the ballet studio. She pushed through the doors and an onslaught of memories came rushing back to her. The smell of the vinyl floor and the endless appearance that the mirrors gave made her feel like her younger self again. 

“Heather?” A voice interrupted her thoughts.

Heather turned to face a tall man with voluminous blonde hair and an almost too-perfect smile. “Uh…hi.”

“I’m Jaques, Courtney told me that you might be here today.” Jacques extended his arm to her, “Lovely to meet you.” Heather shook his hand out of courtesy, but she definitely wasn’t a fan of his over the top, bubbly personality. “We’re just getting set up, so plenty of time to get yourself ready.”

Heather made her way over to the change rooms. She felt out of place, like she was intruding in on something sacred. Everyone there already knew everyone else and what they were doing, Heather didn’t want to interact with any of them.

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After get dressed, Heather shuffled over to the group, already doing stretches at the bars. As she got prepared for dancing, she scoped out the rest of the guys and girls, noticing that they were all a couple years younger than her. Guess the older kids had already gotten accepted into some prestigious dance school.

Jaques turned on the music and began to instruct and remind the class of what they have learnt so far. Heather didn’t pay attention to that, she preferred to do things her own way. As she took each step, she grew further and further away from the group. The music entered her ears and took over the rest of her body. She let her mind go blank, while the music made her decisions for her. It wasn’t as easy to dance as it used to be, but Heather had remembered every move that she learnt. Even just for a few seconds, Heather completely forgot about her parents and the rest of her problems.

She kept dancing, toes pointed, as the rest of the class stared at her. Not only were they shocked that she wasn’t listening to Jaques’ instructions, but they were blown away at the talent of the new girl. Sure, there many noticeable mistakes, but Heather made up for that with her elegance.

Heather slowed to a stop and noticed all the faces gawking at her, “What are you guys looking at? Go back to your practice.” She scoffed.

“Heather, how long has it been since you’ve done ballet?” Jaques enthusiastically asked. 

“Four years.”

“Your form needs a lot of touching up, but it’s amazing how much skill you have able to retained,” said Jaques.

“…Thanks.” Heather sheepishly said.

“Although, please join the rest of class next time. Working together as a group means people can build off of each other and everyone can shine.”

“Right, okay.” Heather begrudgingly joined the rest of the class. 

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Being on her own is what Heather preferred, but the chance to dance ballet again is something Heather couldn’t pass up. The class finished up and everyone was packing up to go home. 

Jaques approached Heather as she packed her bag, “Did you enjoy doing ballet again?”

Heather didn’t really feel like holding up an actual conversation, “Yeah.”

Not picking up on Heather’s irritation, Jaques, “You did pretty well today, considering it has been many years since you’ve last danced. I think it’s worthwhile to do some serious training.”

“Right, yeah. Might think about it,” Heather said as she left the studio. 

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A few days later, Heather was hanging out at Courtney’s house. “So, how did ballet go?” Courtney asked.

“It was alright.” Heather nonchalantly said.

“Just alright? You need to give yourself more credit,” Courtney pouted.

“Fine, I was amazing. A super star. Probably the next ballet prodigy,” Heather laughed.

“So, I was right then. As always.” Courtney smiled to herself.

“Ah, so that was your plan all along? Just to further prove that the Head Girl is right with everything she does?” Heather asked. Both of the girls giggled as they fell and laid down next to each other on the bed.

Courtney looked towards Heather, “So, do you think you’ll continue with it?”

Heather contemplated for a moment, while playing with Courtney’s hair. In the midst of it all, she felt completely free for once. She loved it. “Yeah…I think I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things are finally looking up for heather :D


	12. It's War Time, Babes

“Trent!” Cody huffed as he slammed a poster onto lunch table. He was panting as if he had just ran a mile. “Take a look at this!” He enthusiastically pointed to the bright words sprawled across the paper. 

Trent didn’t even bother looking up from his sandwich, “Cody, for the last time, I’m not joining the Einstein Fan Club.” 

That response received a punch from Cody, “It’s not that! I swear!” Cody had tried countless of times to get Trent to join the club, so much so that he had given up on trying quite a few months ago.

Trent’s gaze lifted up towards to the poster. “Battle of the Bands…” he muttered beneath his breath. “Since when did our school host a Battle of the Bands?”

“This is the first one! But dude, we totally have to join. I hear that being in a band is a good way to score points with the ladies,” Cody smirked as he raised his eyebrows at Trent.

“Cody…” Trent said cautiously.

In one swift motion, Cody threw up his arms, “Come _on_ Trent. Don’t act like I haven’t noticed all those secret glances you and Gwen have been giving each other. Something’s up there, dude.”

Shuffling uncomfortably in his sweat, Trent fidgeted with his hands, “It’s not like that, man.” 

Cody hummed, “Okay, whatever you say. Still though, we should join. It’s our last year of high school, might as well make the most of it, y’know?” He gave Trent a toothy grin as he reached out his hand, “So, whaddya say Trenton? Gonna sign up with me?”

Trent graciously shook Cody’s hand, “Sure thing, Codester.”

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The blaring ring of the bell filled the school and immediately a horde of students piled out of the classrooms, getting ready for lunch. With a book in his hand, Noah walked up to Cody, who was a few paces ahead of him. “Hey, I’m heading down to the library, as usual. Care to join?”

Cody put up his hands, “Ah sorry! I’m gonna practice with Trent in the music rooms.” _Ah, of course,_ Noah thought to himself, _Of course he’s hanging out with Trent._ “Getting ready for the Battle of the Bands, you know how it is.” Cody pushed back his hair, in an attempt to look cool.

“Right,” Noah looked down at his book. “You have me to thank for that, by the way.”

“Huh?”

“Battle of the Bands. You were hounding Courtney and I _all_ of last year about how you wanted some ‘sick event where you could show the school your cosmic amount of talent.’ It actually got a bit annoying. But yeah, we brought it up at some meetings last year and I guess the school board decided to actually give a shit about what the students want, for once,” Noah scoffed.

“Wait, actual?” Noah nodded. “Nice! Thank you so much, dude.” Cody began to take off in the direction of the music halls when he quickly turned back to Noah. “We’re gonna make the best song ever, now! You better believe we’re gonna win!”

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On Trent’s bedroom floor, Cody laid down in despair. “Dude,” he started, “My mind is blank. It’s like a desert. An arid waste land of no value. Nothing to see for as far as the eye can see.”

“Same here, man. Now if only I could put as much effort into writing lyrics as you do describing how empty your brain is.” Trent sighed as he crumpled up yet another piece of paper. For the past couple hours, the pair had been trying to write their Grammy award-winning song. Both of them wanted to create the most perfect song to capture their feelings. However, neither of them have yet to manage to come up with anything above mediocre. 

Out of the corner of his eye, Trent looked through his window and saw that Heather was sitting in her window nook, looking down towards her phone. An idea sprung up into his head and he walked over to the window. He unlocked the latch and gave one big push on the window. “Heather!” He yelled out towards her. It was uncertain if she could actually hear him, but that didn’t mean he didn’t stop trying. “Helloo! Heather!”

Cody craned his neck towards Trent, “What are you doing?”

“Trying to get Heather’s attention to ask her to come over. She might be able to help us come up with ideas.” Cody gave Trent a look of pure disdain. Of course, Cody knew that Trent and Heather were close, but he still couldn’t help thinking that Heather was bad news. “She’s not as bad as you think. Trust me.”

Trent went back to yelling to Heather, with no avail. Upon his desk, he grabbed one of his pencils and chucked it straight towards Heather’s window. The clank of the wood hitting the glass gave Heather a little fright. She glanced up to see Trent waving towards her, then she opened her window. “What the hell do you want!?” 

“What a lovely day it is Heather, don’t you think!” Trent looked towards the sky.

“Cut to the chase, Trent, you’re interrupting my ‘blankly scrolling through social media’ time,” she folded her arms.

“Aw Heather, can’t we just have a nice chat?” Heather looked like she had just about had enough of Trent’s shit and reached to close the window. “Okay, okay! I was just wondering if you’d like to come over. Cody and I are trying to make something for the Battle of the Bands and we’re flat out of ideas.”

Heather tapped her foot and pondered for a moment. It wasn’t as if she had any other plans for that day, so she agreed, “Right, fine. I’ll be over in two minutes.” Heather slammed the window shut as she dashed down and out of the house.

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“Shame Heather, you took three minutes not two,” Trent teased as he let Heather into his room. 

“Get stuffed,” she sneered. As she walked across the room, she gave Cody a quick hello and took a seat on the swivel chair. Although she lived right across from him, she hadn’t been in his room for a few years. Even still, the light green walls, grey carpet with a rug that looked like a record, and band posters that lined the room still remained. “So…Battle of the Bands, huh? Kinda lame, if you ask me.”

“Good thing no one asked you,” Cody shot back.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Trent tried to diffuse the tension, “Am I gonna have to make you two a ‘get along shirt’?”

“Oh god, please no,” Heather looked mortified. “Well then, guess I better suck it up,” Heather sighed. “So, you guys got anything so far?

“Uhh…” The two boys said in unison. 

“Nothing? Do you even know what you want your song to be about?” Her question was answered by silence. Heather ran her fingers through her hair. “God, you two are hopeless.”

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After an hour of Heather’s harsh leadership, they finally gathered an idea, some lyrics and Cody came up with a couple possible keyboard riffs. The three of them narrowed it down to a song that is Trent subtly apologising to Gwen about not believing her, while also somewhat of a confession.

Heather looked at the time on her phone, it was almost six, “Well I gotta get going. You know how my parents get when I’m late for family dinner.”

“Just tell them you were with me and they’ll forgive you immediately,” Trent laughed.

“You say it like it’s a joke, but you know that’s 100% true. Anyway, good luck with the rest of the song. God knows you two need it,” she walked towards the door. “See you later Trent,” Heather began to leave. “And Cody,” she added. 

The two of them heard the slam of the front door closing. Trent turned towards Cody, “Told you she isn’t as bad as you thought."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's getting closer to the end! ah I can't wait until I finish this!! i really hope to make it into an entire comics some day


	13. Living in a House, Not a Home

“Noahhh,” Cody whined, “why don’t we ever go over to your house?” Cody let his game controller fall to the ground as Noah yet again beat him.

“Because, my house is filled with demon-spawn whose constant screeching will make you want to rip your ears off,” Noah stated. To this, Cody just blinked. Noah sighed, “My older siblings usually come over with their young children.”

“Oh, that sounds fun though!”

Noah rolled his eyes, “Of course it would to you, considering you’re practically a child yourself.”

“Rude,” Cody punched Noah right in the arm, harder than expected. “But seriously, I wanna see where the elusive Noah lives.”

“Not creepy at all,” Noah muttered as he looked at the time on his phone. “If you’re so adamant about this, you could come over for dinner. It’s gonna be ready soon, so…”

“Wait, actually?” Cody stumbled over his words, “Your parents won’t mind? Don’t you have to, I dunno, tell them beforehand?”

Noah shrugged, “Eh, they always end up making extra food. Plus, they are big believers in the phrase ‘the more the merrier.’”

With a big jump, Cody arose from his bean bag, “So it’s settled then. Hold up one moment, I’m gonna grab my keys!” 

Considering Cody’s track record with driving, Noah quickly grabbed ahold of his wrist, “Oh no, you aren’t. Now that I have my license, I am _never_ letting you drive _ever_ again.”

Cody pouted, “I’m not that bad of a driver.”

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The screen door let out a creak as Noah entered his home. “Mum, Dad, I’m back,” he called out to them. “Just leave your shoes over there,” Noah said to Cody as he pointed towards a shoe rack. 

“Noah!” A woman with long black hair and wearing a red paisley dress, ran up and engulfed him in a giant bear hug.

“Nice to see you too, Mum,” Noah managed to croak out, whilst all the air was being squeezed right out of him. 

Noah’s mum looked behind him to see Cody, shuffling awkwardly and standing near the door frame. “Oh, we have an extra guest!” She ran over to greet him, “Oh Cody! I haven’t seen you in so long! ” Cody’s arm almost fell of with the strength of Mrs. Patel’s handshake. 

“It has, Mrs. Patel, I think the last time was the Award Ceremony in Year Ten,” Cody covered his nervousness with a smile.

“Oh, Mrs. Patel is too formal, please Priyanka is fine.” She walked back over to Noah and whacked him on the back, “Noah never brings friends over anymore. I was beginning to think he was starting to become a hermit, just like his older sister. Well, I better get back to cooking, food should be ready in 15 minutes! Cody, please make yourself comfortable, and Noah, help set up the table.” Mrs. Patel swiftly turned back to go into the kitchen. 

The pair walked over to the dining room, which was enriched with bright paintings and intricate wall decor. They passed a chest of drawers, adorned with copious amounts of picture frames on top of it. The pictures ranged from wedding photos to school picture days and all of them were filled with a bunch of smiling people. It made Cody a bit jealous. He wouldn’t even be able to tell you if there was a single photo of him in his own house.

“Man, I forgot how nice your mother is,” Cody shoved his hands into his pockets. 

“Nice? You mean completely overbearing?” Noah said as he placed the cutlery around the table. 

Cody shrugged as he leaned on a chair, “Must be nice, though.” A silence lingered between the two as Cody helped Noah arrange the plates. “Anyway, dinner smells amazing! Can’t wait to chow down on it.”

“Say Cody, how do you feel about spicy food?” Noah asked.

“Love it! I’m the god of spice! Get this, I once ate a jalapeño,” Cody said with unwavering confidence. For some reason, Noah wasn’t too sure that Cody was prepared for the cosmic amount of spice that was heading his way.

Suddenly, a small force came crashing into Cody’s leg. “Oh sorry!” Cody looked down to see a small girl, hair in plaits, looking back up at him.

“Jeez Disha, you’re gonna meet an early grave if you don’t bother to look where you’re going,” Noah told the girl. He could practically hear his mother’s reprimands for basically telling a young child that they’re going to die. “Sorry about that, none of my nieces and nephews know the concept of ‘personal space.’”

Cody chuckled, “It’s fine.”

Disha pointed towards Cody, “Noah, who’s that?”

“Cody,” Noah stated.

“Do you go to school with him?”

“Yes.”

“Is he your friend?”

“Yes.”

Disha was getting annoyed with Noah’s ever-so engrossing answers and bonked him on the head, “You’re boring. I’m going outside to play.”

“Make sure you actually look where this time. I’m sure even you could manage that.” Disha poked her tongue out at Noah as she ran to the back door. _This is so much better than what I would have been doing right now,_ Cody thought to himself.

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“Oh my _god,_ ” Cody said as he downed yet another glass of milk. “Noah, you didn’t say it was going to be _this_ spicy!”

“What were you saying moments ago? That you are the ‘god of spice?” Noah said as everyone around the table chimed in with laughter. “Besides, that’s korma, one of the least spicy foods on this table.”

Through laughter, Noah’s mum said, “I didn’t realise it was going to be that spicy, I’m so sorry you don’t like it!”

“No, no, no!” Cody put his hands up, “It tastes delicious! Thank you for the meal! Definitely one of the best dinners I’ve had in awhile… I guess I just don’t really eat spicy food all that often. But thank you, again!”

Noah’s dad spoke, “What a polite young boy. Noah, you could learn a thing or two about manners from him.”

“Yeah right, that kid right there is the devil in sheep’s clothing. A complete and utter brat,” Noah crossed his arms. 

“What do you mean Noah? I’m the pinnacle of all things pure and virtuous,” Cody feigned innocence, to which Noah scoffed. 

Noah’s sister, Maya, tapped him on the shoulder, “You should bring him over more often. He’s got good energy. I like him.” Noah’s mouth fell open. It was rare that Maya didn’t hate any of her sister’s friends, even after getting to known them. The fact that she didn’t want to gauge Cody’s eyes out was a miracle.

Cody got along well with most of Noah’s sisters, nieces and nephews. He flourished in the lively atmosphere, falling into conversations from across the table. Chatter continued around the table far into the night. 

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The two walked out of the house and stood on the porch. “I feel like my tastebuds were doused in gasoline, spit roasted, and now are having a funeral for one another. But thank you so much for having me,” Cody hugged his hoodie tightly in the cold night.

“Not a problem,” Noah leaned back on a wooden beam.

“Seriously, your whole family is just so…energetic? Fun? Like dude, are you even related to them?” Cody joked.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“I wish my family was more like that,” the smile that Cody usually wore slowly disappeared from his face. 

Noah stood up straight and looked Cody in the eyes, “Well, you’re welcome back anytime. You’ve managed to convince that you’re some sort of angel, so they’d have no problem having you over again. Might have to make something specially for you though, since you can’t even handle a hint of spice.”

“Haha yeah…” Cody said, lost thing thought. He just stared at Noah, looking at all the details in his face. After a few seconds, Cody remembered where he was, “W-well, I better get going! I, uh, I’ll see you at school!” Cody waved off to Noah and quickly scurried off to his car. 

Left alone on his porch, Noah stood silent, ignoring the slight blush across his cheeks, “Uh, bye?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love noah's family


	14. Worth It

Heather observed her form in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors of the dance studio. In the reflection, she saw a petite woman with a sculpted face, dashed with bright pink lipstick, standing next to Jacques. That woman had been there since the very start of the lesson, staring intensely at all the wannabe dancers, nitpicking every detail of their steps.

The music simmered down into a stop, along with the movement of the dancers. Confused glances were exchanged between the teens as the lady contemplated for a moment. After a few seconds, she confidently pointed her finger right in the direction of Heather. “Her,” she said to Jacques. 

Jacques began to speak, “Oh, she’s not-“

“Come here,” the woman’s voice sounded slightly shrill. “The rest of you can go,” she motioned off of the rest of the dancers. Slowly, Heather walked towards the pair. She could already tell that the mystery woman’s personality was surely going to piss her off. “What’s her name?” She asked Jacques. Why she couldn’t just ask Heather herself was beyond Heather.

“That’s Heather Shinso-Harrington. Technically, I don’t actually teacher, she just tags along with our lessons, but she’s really good, is she not?” Jacques raved.

“Hmm…” The lady rested her hand on her chin, “Shinso-Harrington. The name’s familiar.”

“And who might this be?” Heather finally asked Jacques.

“Ah, I forgot to introduce you!” He put a hand on the woman’s shoulder, “This is Josee, she owns the studio with me and hosts private lessons. She’s a spectacular dancer, really.”

Josee looked back towards Heather, “You have promise. Potential. More so than the rest of that pathetic lot,” she took a step closer to Heather. “But you’re not golden. You would benefit with private lessons.”

As much as she had dancing skills, Josee certainly did not have people skills. “Oh gee, that sounds great. Sadly, I don’t have the money. Well, see ya,” Heather replied as the walked in the direction of the exit.

A hand with sharp nails wrapped around Heather’s wrist. “Don’t you walk away from me,” Josee got up in Heather’s face. “Listen to me, darling, this studio is relatively unknown. If you let me train you, I can make you a star. You’ll get into a top dance school and you’ll put our name on the map. This will benefit both of us,” she hissed into Heather’s ear.

“I’m not lying when I say I don’t have the money. My parents hold all my funds and they’d rather be six feet under than give me money to take ballet classes,” Heather scoffed.

Josee scrunched her face at Heather, “This offer will stand for a week, Heather. Think about it. Think about the opportunities. You’ll regret this if you don’t.”

With one push, Heather was halfway out the door, “Sure thing.”

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As much as she tried, Heather couldn’t fool herself. She wanted to pursue ballet, she really did. It gave her some sort of freedom that she hadn’t felt for such a long time. Her mind was filled with different ways she could ask her parents to do private lessons, but all of them ended with the both of her tearing her a new one. However, something deep down within her had hope that her parents would understand her sentiments. 

She rolled off her bed and made her way downstairs. Walking by all the paintings of her family, smiling happily, made her sick. Anyone who would walk into the Shinso-Harrington household would think that the successful family had the perfect life. It was all such a lie. 

The air of the living room was cold as she came insight of her parents, who were watching the news on the couch. Her heart pounding heavy in her chest. “Oh Heather? You’re out of your room? Rare to see you off of that phone of yours,” her mother said as soon as she noticed her daughter. Her father laughed along with her.

“Uh mum, dad, can I ask you something?” There was no going back now. Her fate was sealed.

“Sure thing, dear,” her father turned the volume down on the TV.

“Well,” Heather shifted in her spot. Her throat was tight and she couldn’t seem to be able to get the words out, “…uh.

“Heather, use your words.” Her mother demanded.

“I was just wondering if you’d be able to pay for private ballet lessons,” Heather blurted out. She kept her eyes focused on the carpet, not wanting to look at the horrified expressions on her parent’s faces. Sweat dripped off of her forehead, onto the floor, anticipating their reactions.

“Where did this come from?” He father asked. He had completely turned the TV off at this moment. 

“Ballet? That thing you did with Courtney back when you were young?” Her mum asked in disgust. Heather nodded. “Why on Earth would you want to do that? You were never even that good. My, there were lots of other splendid young girls there who were far better than you and they probably quit after a few years, too.” 

Tears were trying to break free from Heather’s eyes, “B-but, Jaques and J-josee said I was good!” She argued.

“Oh, Heather Feather,” Heather’s spine straightened at her mother’s use of that nickname. She hated that nickname. “I’m sure whoever your little friends are did say that. But I do not think they understand the skill that it takes to be successful. We are just trying to look out for you, be good parents, you know? We have to tell you the truth. There’s no point in wasting time in something that you have no future in.”

“But I could! I could have a future in it! Just please, let me do this!” Heather’s cry could heard through the whole house, and then some. 

“It’s for your own good. You don’t want this. When you have a nice husband, a kid, and doing a job that you’re actually good at, you’ll thank us,” her father said as he held her mother’s hand.

The very last of Heather’s patience had just about been used up. For years, Heather had listened to her parents lie to her about her worth and she had had enough. “Fuck you guys! Fuck you!” Heather never even gave her parents a chance to yell at her for her profanity, she was already storming out of the door. Even with her vision blurred because of the tears in her eyes, shejumped over the fence that separated her and Trent’s house. Heather was shivering while she trudged over to Trent’s front door. She mentally cursed herself for not bothering to put on a jacket before going outside at night, during the middle of autumn. 

Before she could even ring the doorbell, the front door flew open to reveal Trent. His eyebrows were furrowed and eyes were strained. “Hey, I heard yelling- are you okay?” He stammered out quickly. 

Heather’s crying hadn’t slowed, she collapsed into Trent. His arms wrapped around her as she took in erratic breaths. It reminded him of the first time that something like this happened. Six years ago, when they were just eleven, the familiar scene played out. Heather’s parents had told her that she was far too old to play with dolls. They proceeded to make Heather throw out all of her own toys. She came knocking on Trent’s door soon after. That was before everything, though. Before the alcohol, before the smoking. Before the rumours, heartbreak, stress, and everything else that came with growing up into something that your younger self wouldn’t even recognise. 

A cold breeze broke through Trent’s train of thought. “Let’s head upstairs, ‘kay? You can tell me everything up there.”

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Another tear stained tissue fell to the floor as Heather finished recanting the story to Trent. “Wow, I’m being really overdramatic, aren’t I? Being an attention whore, as usual…I’m sorry.” Heather tried to laugh at herself as she gazed upon the mountain of tissues.

“Don’t apologise. And don’t call yourself an attention whore, overdramatic, none of that! Because it’s not true. _God,_ ” Trent ran his fingers through his hair. Sure, Heather could act a bit bitchy now and again, but she didn’t deserve this. She deserves better. “This is shit is so messed up!” In his anger, he kicked over his chair. A loud crashing sound made Heather jump as it smashed against the floor.

“Trent?” Trent’s mum must have heard the noise. “What was- Oh!” She opened Trent’s bedroom door to find Heather sitting on the floor. “Heather, I didn’t know you were over.” She bent down to kneel next to Heather, “I…I heard the commotion. Are you okay, love?”

“Her parent’s are dickheads!” Trent yelled.

“Honey,” His mother tried to calm him down.

“I’m serious! All she asked was for money to take ballet lessons, but they absolutely belittled her! Tore her down! It’s not right…” Trent was starting to tear up now.

“Ah, I remember watching one of your recitals,” Trent’s mum’s green eyes filled with memories of Courtney and Heather smiling, prancing around without a care. At the show she went to, Courtney messed up part of the routine. She looked like she was about to cry, but Heather took her hand and helped her along with the rest of the song. “You were lovely.”

“Thank you,” Heather managed to croak out.

“You…are passionate about ballet? Are you planning on making a career out of it?” Trent’s mum asked as she conducted a plan in her head.

“I…Yes. Yes, I do,” Heather confirmed it both to his mother and to herself.

“I probably shouldn’t do this and one could take it as overstepping my boundaries, but I’ve known you since you were born, Heather. I want you to be happy. I’ll pay for your lessons. Once you have moved out and start making money from ballet, you can pay me back. But for now, I want to give you a chance,” Trent’s mum offered. Trent’s mouth fell open, and then to a smile.

“I couldn’t ask you of that! That’s too much! Please, I’ll be fine,” Heather was shocked at her generosity. 

“It’s clear how much you want this, love. Please let me do this. I want to see you on a stage one day,” Trent’s mum took Heather’s hands into her own.

“Thank you so much,” Heather hugged Trent’s mum.

“You are going to do amazing things, Heather.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well that was a ride! i hate heather's parents!


	15. It's Nice Talking to You Again

Gwen tapped her foot, fidgeting with her blazer, as she waited for the crappy school printer to finish photocopying her work. Suddenly, someone joined her in her impatience. “Oh, hey Gwen!” She looked behind her to see who it was, and there was stood Trent, who seemed to be in a bit of a rush. “You using the printer?”

“Yep,” she pointed to her big portfolio of artwork leaning against the machine. “Just sorting out some stuff for my portfolio. Getting ready for uni applications and all that adult shit.”

“Ah, you’re still going to try to apply for art school right?” Trent remembered the plans that they made, back when they were together. They’d go to the same university, Gwen would study visual arts and Trent would study music. After graduation, they’d move out together, Gwen would become a tattoo artist while Trent became a famous musician. Later, when they’d save up enough money, they’d open up their own weird tattoo parlour-coffee shop mix, and Trent would hire relatively unknown bands to play music every Friday night. And they’d be happy together. Of course, now those plans were all thrown into the gutters.

“Definitely,” she went to grab another artwork to photocopy, “What about you? Applying to be an accountant like your old man wants you to?”

“Nope!” Trent crossed his arms, “I’m taking a stand and going to get a degree in music. My mum supports it, so that’s good enough, right?”

Gwen gave a noncommittal, “Mhm,” as she grabbed the stack of papers that had just spurted out of the machine. Quickly, she flicked through each one to make sure the printer didn’t stuff any of them up. One particular paper caught her eye, as it wasn’t a photocopy, it looked to be sheet music. “‘Back to the Start’? Did you write a song?”

Immediately, Trent snatched the paper from Gwen’s hands, “O-oh, yeah! It’s for the Battle of the Bands, Cody and I are signing up.”

“Nice,” Gwen tried to peer over to sneak a glance at the paper Trent was trying so hard to hide. “I think I heard something about Harold performing something for Leshawna at the show.”

“Mhm, yeah I think he’s gonna do one of his famous beatboxes,” Trent said as he and Gwen walked over towards the door of the Arts centre. “Are you gonna come see the Battle of the Bands?”

Gwen scoffed, “And what? Stand around for hours at night in a sweaty crowd, getting attacked by swarms of mosquitos, listening to what can be barely described as music? Sounds like a real riot.” She headed in the direction of the Art room before turning back towards Trent, “But now that I know you’re performing, I might just bare the pain. I’ll see you there,” and with a wave of her hand, she disappeared into a classroom. It took Trent a few seconds to regain his thoughts and remember where he was. Now that he knew Gwen was going to be watching him at the Battle of the Bands, he was going to make sure it was going to be a performance of a lifetime.

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Little did either of the pair know, two other sets of eyes had been watching their interactions through some windows. 

Cody leaned back on his chair, nearly falling off it, “Did those two just have an actual conversation?”

Noah looked up from the Biology questions that he was meant to be answering, “Without it being totally and utterly awkward?”

“Maybe there is a bit of hope for Trent,” Cody crossed his arms.

“Yeah, may- wait what do you mean by that?” Noah raised his eyebrow at him.

Through stumbling over his words, Cody managed to say, “U-uh, no-nothing! I didn’t say anything!” Noah kept the same questioning look on his face. “Aw crap, you don’t believe me, do you? Well, uh, okay. The song Trent and I are singing for the Battle of the Bands may or may not be a kind of apology, kind of confession to Gwen?”

“Confession? You’re confessing to Gwen?”

Cody gave Noah a flick across his forehead, “Not me confession, _Trent_ confessing. And here I thought that you’re meant to be this super genius, whiz kid or something. Anyway, Trent wants to tell Gwen he wants to get back together with her and I just think that them having a decent conversation just now is a good sign all will go well. Hopefully.”

“Right,” Noah let out a sigh of relief when he realised Cody wasn’t the one who liked Gwen. “I think Gwen still likes Trent too, so I think it should work out.”  
“Woah, wait, really?!” Cody yelled, consequently getting shushed by the teacher.

“Keep it down, would you? She hasn’t said anything about it, but Leshawna and I have been best friends with that girl for years. We know something’s up when we’re having a conversation about her favourite TV show and instead of listening to us, she’s ogling Trent from across the courtyard.” For the past few weeks, Gwen had been not-so-subtly letting her mind drift to places other than her schoolwork.

“If that’s the case, I think things will go just fine for them,” Cody shot Noah a smile and a thumbs up. In return, Noah gave a small smile back to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is a bit on the shorter side, but the next one is gonna be a bit longer! just gotta get the anticipation to build up! i can not stress to you guys enough how excited i am to write the Battle of the Bands scene!! :D


	16. You and I Got a Lot of Chemistry

Mid-year exam week had begun to rear it’s head around the corner and all the Year Twelves were nose deep in their textbooks, having the occasional mental breakdown. As the final bell of the day let all the students out, Trent grabbed Cody by the shoulder, “Hey Codster, wanna come study with Courtney, Heather and I? I’ve been trying to get this Bio stuff in my head, but it won’t stick.”

Cody turned towards him, “Noah and I were planning on studying together today, but I’m sure he’d be fine if we joined you guys. The more the merrier, right?” The pair walked closer towards the school gates where they found Noah standing with Gwen and Leshawna. “Noah! Just the guy I was looking for.”

“What do you want?” Noah asked.

“So, you know how we were gonna study together? Change of plans, how do you feel about joining with Trent, Courtney, and Heather in studying? I’m sure they’d be able to help with a question or two,” Cody put an arm around Noah’s shoulder. 

“No,” Noah said sternly, shoving Cody’s arm off of his shoulders.

Leshawna snickered, “Aw come on Noah, don’t be like that. At least pretend that you’re not completely uninterested.

“Right, because I find listening to Courtney and Heather’s endless bitching to be a really exhilarating activity. God knows that no actual studying would get done,” Noah crossed his arms.

“Ouch Noah, you have so little faith in us,” Cody pretended to be hurt by Noah’s words. “But come on, join us, pleaaase?” He hoped that his puppy dog eyes were good enough to convince Noah.

“Ugh fine, just stop making that face, please.” Noah looked towards Gwen and Leshawna, “One condition though, you two are coming with.”

The two looked startled. “That’s so not happening,” Gwen immediately stated.

“Too bad, it is. Not like you two had any other plans to spend your Friday afternoon,” Noah smirked at his friends. Just as Leshawna was about to go off at Noah, the fashionably late pair Courtney and Heather had finally arrived.

Trent gave them a wave, “Court, Heather, we’ve got four new additions.”

“Great,” Heather rolled her eyes at the sight of Cody, Noah, Leshawna, and Gwen. She didn’t get along with majority of them at the best of times, that afternoon was bound to be a disaster. “So, where are we going? No offence to you nerds, but the library isn’t really my cup of tea.”

“We could go to my house,” Cody suggested. “It’s not that far from here, got a lot of space and an unlimited supply of junk food? Everybody cool with that?” Everyone in the group nodded in conformation. “Cool! I got my car, so if anyone wants to carpool-“

“No!” Everyone yelled at him, knowing his track record with Cody and driving.

“Geez, okay, I really feel the love guys.”

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Heather and Courtney were amazed once they stepped foot into the Anderson residence. Everyone else had already been over a few times, so the awe of the pristinely white walls and chandeliers had already warn off. “Cody, you could throw a fucking awesome party here,” Heather said, admiring the large open space. This earned her a look of judgement from Trent. “What?” She asked innocently in return. 

“Hehe yeah, guess I could,” Cody said, trying to look suave. “Anyway, let’s head up stairs.” Though the hallways, Cody lead the group into his bedroom. “You can put your bags anywhere, I’m sure there’s enough space for everyone.” The walls were decorated head to toe with posters of everything and anything science and technology related. From the latest video games, to astrophysics, to dinosaurs, it was filled with a wide array of interests. 

“Y’know, I’m not really sure what I was expecting,” Courtney said as she placed down her schoolbag. 

“Really? Cuz this is the exact kind of nerd shit that I was expecting,” Heather said, examining a diorama of the solar system. 

“How about instead of judging me based on my humble abode, we get some work done?” Cody said, slamming a bunch of books down on his desk. The loud noise certainly grabbed everyone’s attention.

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“Court, I can’t figure out this maths problem. Calculus can go fuck itself,” Heather groaned as she leaned back against Cody’s bed. For the past ten minutes, she’d been stuck on the same damn question and was half-convinced that it was impossible to solve. Courtney got up from her seat across the room and plopped down right next to Heather, leaning over to see the equation. She could Courtney’s sift chestnut hair against her own cheek. Heather didn’t want to admit it, but she enjoyed Courtney being that close to her. 

“Oh, it’s simple!” Courtney began scribbling down in Heather’s exercise book, “You got basically all the other steps right, but you just have to get the ‘x’ out of the denominator before you differentiate that. Always gotta be careful about that,” Courtney smiled as she handed Heather’s book back to her. However, instead of returning to her old seat, Courtney just stayed put, the gap between her and Heather remained.

“Thanks…” Heather’s thoughts lingered on her best friend sitting right next to her. She didn’t know how much longer she could deal with this little crush. Courtney was always just so…perfect. Besides being incredibly smart, she was a great leader and painfully organised. By the time she was in Year Five, she had planned every single detail of her future up until she was 25 years old. Of course, the fact that Heather was featured heavily in that plan made her smile more than it should have. 

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Trent walked over to where the two biggest science nerds in the room were sitting, “Noah, Cody, could either of you two help me with this question?”

Noah gave Cody a look of ‘I don’t wanna deal with this,’ so Cody was the one who answered with, “Oh yeah, right! Sure, let me take a look.” He scanned over the question from the biology textbook. “Mm okay, so micro-evolution is a minor change within a species, right? It has to do with the frequency genotypes and can form patterns within lineages-“

Noah sharply cut off Cody, “Might want to go over your notes again Cody, _macro_ -evolution focusses on trends and patterns within lineages, not micro-evolution.”

“Thought you didn’t want to help answer this question, Noah-it-all? Besides, I know I’m right about this, I aced the last test on evolution,” Cody cockily crossed his arms.

“Well I didn’t feel like helping because I had enough confidence that you wouldn’t get a simple concept like micro-evolution wrong,” Noah smiled slyly. 

“Oh yeah? Wanna bet on that?” Cody extended his arm out to Noah. He was almost as full as competitiveness as when he was trying to beat Noah at a video game.

“Uh, I’ll just go ask Courtney,” Trent left the scene before things got too out of hand.

“Let’s bet. If I’m, you gotta lend me a few of your video games for a week,” Noah wagered. If he asked, he bet that Cody would allow him to borrow some video games, but he didn’t really know what else to go for.

“Okay, and if _I’m_ right, and I am, you have to go see that new zombie-shark movie with me,” Cody had been wanting to see that movie for _ages,_ but neither Trent or Noah would agree to see it with him. 

Noah flicked open his textbook to the pages about micro and macro-evolution. “…interspecific variation…origin of humans…Ha! Here it is! ‘Large scale evolutionary patterns and trends.’” Noah shoved the book right in Cody’s face.

Cody read the words, dumbfounded. “No, I swear- I swear that was for micro-evolution! Damn…guess you were right, huh? Now I will have to go alone to see the zombie-shark movie. Oh, woe is me, what terrible fate I’ve fallen upon.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever you drama nerd, I’ll go with you to see the movie. I just wanted to prove that I was right.”

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Gwen took a break from her research on Gustav Klimt to see Trent with Courtney, talking and laughing with her. She turned to Leshawna with a solemn look on her face, “You don’t think Trent likes Courtney, do you?”

“Gwen, if you think there’s _any_ chemistry going on between them, then you must be blind,” Leshawna replied, looking up from her Human Bio notes. Sadness still enveloped Gwen’s face. “I know you miss him.”

“God, I suck, right? It’s been _months_ since he broke up with me and I’m still not over the guy,” Gwen buried her face into her knees. As much as she tried to keep Trent out of her mind since the break up, he always found a way to sneak his way back in. 

“Do _not_ talk to yourself like that! Everyone takes a different amount of time to get over things. Plus, you two were very close before and while you were dating. Aside from losing your boyfriend, you lost your best friend too,” Leshawna placed her own hand on Gwen’s. “But that doesn’t matter anymore, since I’m here to be your new, better, and hotter best friend.” 

Gwen chuckled, “Can’t deny that.” 

“But I do think that he might still have feelings for you,” Leshawna whispered.

“What? You think so?” Gwen was a bit shocked.

“Uh, duh. He asked you to go with him to the Battle of the Bands. If that doesn’t scream date, I don’t know what does, Leshawna crossed her arms.

“First off, he didn’t ask me to go with him, he asked me if I was going and I said yes. Second of all, why would he want to go back to the weird goth chic? Especially when he’s got people like Heather and Courtney around.” Gwen stopped for a second. “That didn’t mean to sound as self-deprecating as it did.”

“You’re a lost cause, Gwen. Just trust me on this, ‘kay?” Everything will work out fine.

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The day came to a close and needless to say, not much studying got done. Heather and Courtney were the first to leave, due to Courtney’s strict curfew. Both of the girls got into Heather’s car, reading to hit the road. “Gotta admit, it wasn’t so bad hanging out with them as I thought,” Heather said, turning the street.

“Well, it’s not that hard considering your expectations were so low,” Courtney laughed.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Hey, could I stay over tonight? I don’t really feel like going back to my place.” Heather asked. Anything was better than staying at her house with her parents at the moment. They still haven’t accepted the fact that she was taking private ballet lessons.

“Duh, of course. I think there’s still a pair of PJs that you left over last time. If not, you can just borrow a pair of mine,” Courtney said while she texted on her phone. 

They arrived at Courtney’s house a few minutes later, being greeted by her father. “Courtney! Did you have fun studying?”

“Yes papa, Heather is staying over tonight, we’ll order some pizza,” Courtney said all in one breath, pushing Heather down the hallway, into her room. She knew how nosy her father was and how he’d ask about every little detail about her study session if she’d let him. Courtney loved her father, she really did, but sometimes his overprotectiveness got a little out of hand.

“So, pizza?” Heather asked as she closed the door behind her.

“Yeah, I don’t feel like making anything and I think my dad already ate. You want Margherita, right?” Courtney asked as she began to get undressed. Her and Heather had been friends for years, there was nothing strange about getting changed in front of each other. At least, there shouldn’t have been.

Heather’s brain malfunctioned and she couldn’t speak. “Uh, Heather? You good?” Courtney asked her.

Heather recollected her scrambled thoughts, “Oh yeah, sorry, what was that?”

“I asked if you wanted Margherita?” Courtney laughed at her friend’s daze.

“Oh-uh, yeah I do.”

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Dim light shone across Heather and Courtney’s faces. They were laying together in Courtney’s bed, watching some teen drama movie from the 2000s. Heather was particularly interested in any of the people on screen though, rather her thoughts and gaze danced around the girl whose head was resting on her shoulder. Heather decided to bite the bullet and ask Courtney a question that had been on her mind for awhile, “Hey, Court? Do you still think about Gwen?”

“Oh, uh, that’s out of nowhere. What do you mean by that?” Courtney paused the movie that by now, neither of them were paying attention to.

“You liked her, right?” Heather asked.

“Yeah, I did,” Courtney fiddled with her hair. “But she totally flat out rejected me. Totally broke me inside at the time.”

“How do you feel about her now?” Heather asked in a voice that was a bit more cold than she wanted.

Courtney looked up towards her, meeting Heather’s eyes, “If you’re asking if I still like her, the answer is no. I do like being friends with her, though.” It was hard to see Courtney’s face in the dark light, but Heather knew it perfectly. Down to every freckle, she thought about how beautiful Courtney was. “I’m sorry if me talking about liking girls makes you feel weird, I know you’re not-“

“No, I am. I-I am, I uh,” Heather stumbled over her words. “I-I like girls.”

Courtney’s eyes widened, attached was a smile. “Oh! I didn’t know. Thanks for telling me,” Courtney wrapped Heather in a hug. Heather couldn’t bare it.

“Courtney, you’re my best friend. No one gets me like you do. Well, maybe Trent, but he doesn’t count. I’m really sorry if you don’t feel the same way about this, but I like you. As more than a friend,” Heather shut her eyes right as she waited for a response. Instead of words, she felt Courtney’s hands intertwine with her own. 

“Heather, you’re not taking the piss, are you?” Courtney said in a serious tone.

“God, Court, I’m not stupid enough to play with your feelings like that.”

“Then can I kiss you?” The question didn’t need answering as the two girls leaned closer to each other. As soon as their lips touched, they knew it was right. Heather had kissed countless of guys before, but nothing felt as electrifying and yet as soft as this. Courtney’s arms wrapped around Heather’s neck as the kiss deepened. Soon after, they both let go, staring at one another. The two of them started smiling uncontrollably, and then kissing some more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOO heathney  
> in other news, do you ever just wanna kiss a girl


	17. Platonic Gal Pals

The group had received back their dreaded exam marks. Some were ecstatic when they looked at their grades, while others were less than impressed. “I can’t believe I got such a bad score for Maths. I studied my ass off for that,” Heather huffed as she slouched in her seat. A 79% didn’t suit the previously straight-A student very well.

“Studying? Is that what the kids call ‘snogging with your girlfriend’ these days?” Trent teased. As much as he was glad that Heather was finally in a loving relationship, he couldn’t help being bitter about being a constant third-wheel. 

“I-I wasn’t- That didn’t-“ Heather stumbled. She tried to defend herself, but all she got from Trent was a raised eyebrow. “Okay, maybe I spent _some_ time making out with Courtney, but I swear I did do enough study to at _least_ get an 85.” 

“So anyway, is Courtney, like, your girlfriend now?” Trent asked as he scribbled song lyrics in his notebook. Maths wasn’t a subject that the teen took particular interest in, despite being near the stop of the class. 

“Shh, don’t say it so loud. But yeah, she is.”

Trent pumped his fist into the air, “Haha yes! Noah owes me five bucks.”

“ _Seriously? You_ and Noah placed bets on me and Court?” Heather could expect this out of Noah, but Trent placing bets on her was a big shock. Even still, she knew that it was all in good fun.

“I said you two would get together before the semester break, he said after. But now, look who’s gonna be rolling in money,” Trent said, looking too proud of himself for his accomplishment. 

“Trenton Smith, I can not believe that such a good, well-mannered young man would ever stoop to the level of placing bets on his friend’s relationship,” Heather said in a fake regal accent. As much as she tried to mask her disappointment she again looked down at her paper, the big ’79’ carving its way into her soul. “Can’t wait to get home so my parents can yell at me. I can hear them right now. As soon as I walk through that door, they’re gonna berate me on every single question that I got wrong.”

“You could do that. _Or_ you could come over to mine after school,” Trent offered. “Cody and I will still be practising for the Battle of the Bands. But, as always, you are welcome to come watch. And give to us your signature painfully, brutal honest constructive criticism.”

“Delay my inevitable doom for a few extra hours? Don’t mind if I do.” 

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“That actually doesn’t want to make me cut off my ears and then sell them on the black market! Congratulations,” Heather said, leaning against Trent’s bed. The countless amount of hours that Trent and Cody have put into perfecting this performance had finally started to show. Maybe they actually had a chance of winning this. Of course, that wasn’t their main goal.

“Wow, thanks Heather, I think that’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me all year,” Cody beamed as he turned around on his swivel chair. He wasn’t even sure if it was meant to be a compliment, but Cody would take what he could get.

“Don’t get used to it,” Heather warned. Under no circumstances could Heather let Cody see beneath her, ‘mythic bitch’ persona. 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Cody responded.

“Anything you think needs changing? Lyrics, melody, the lot?” Trent asked as he tuned the strings of his guitar.

“I noticed you changed the lyrics a bit. Now it just sounds like a tragic Shakespearean ballad about your undying love for Gwen and Noah. Gross.” Heather said.

“Yeah, that’s kinda the point,” Trent said.

“Oh. Well then, you two are doing a lovely job. I’m sure that the two of them will absolutely be wooed off of their feet,” Heather rolled her eyes.

“I really can’t tell if you’re being sincere or sarcastic right now,” Cody stated. Sometimes it was really difficult to decipher Heather’s true feelings hidden within her words. 

“Are you gonna come to the show?” Trent asked Heather.

Heather almost choked on her own laugh, “Are you kidding? Remember what happened at one of your last artsy-farsty events? Courtney almost got struck by _lightning._ No way in hell am I showing up.” Heather was definitely too cool to show up to something as lame as the Battle of the Bands. 

“Come on Heather please, I need someone to be there for me if it all goes to shit,” Trent pleaded.

“You’ve got Cody,” Heather pointed out.

“He’s as emotionally intelligent as a brick. No offence Cody, I love you man,” Trent said.

“None taken,” Cody piped up.

Heather placed her chin on her hand, “Fair point. Fine, I’ll come, but only if you pay for mine _and_ Courtney’s tickets.

“Ohoh~ you’re going with Courtney, huh?” Cody asked as he leaned back on Trent’s desk.

Heather looked dumbfounded. Surely the news that Courtney and Heather were together would have reached Cody by now. Judging by her previous relationships with Duncan and Alejandro, Heather knew how much people at her school just loved to gossip and spread rumours about her love life. They all just at it up. “Uh yes. We’re girlfriends. That’s what girlfriends do.”

“Wait, holy shit, wait what?” Cody looked stunned. “Did you know about this?” He pointed towards Trent.

“Ah yes, me Trent, who is Heather’s lifelong best friend and neighbour, who constantly sees Heather trying to sneak Courtney into her house during the wee hours of the night, had no idea that her and Courtney were together,” Trent deadpanned.

“Woah, I totally didn’t see that coming…” Cody looked like he had just received the most shocking news of his life. 

“Okay, now I’m the one who can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic, because looking back at it, it was pretty fucking obvious,” Heather said. From all the across-the-room glances to each other, to being a bit too touchy-feely for just being ‘platonic gal pals’, who could really be surprised that Heather had the biggest crush on Courtney? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry the update took so long! just a bit unmotivated since i kinda left the TD fandom. but i am gonna finish this! next chapter is probably the last one, plus an epilogue. and who knows, maybe i'll edit it after i finish it all??


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